f"*  OF  THE 

I     --T Ire ologieal   Seminary, 

PRINCETON,    N.J. 

i       BL    2775    .S67    1872a 


Somerset,    Edward  Adolphus 
Seymour ,    1804-1885 . 

Christian  theology  and 
modern  skepticism 


CHRISTIAN     THEOIOCtY 


AND 


MODERN  SKEPTICISM. 


CHRISTIAN  THEOLOGY 


A^nj 


MODERN  SKEPTICISM, 


BY       ^  y/V- 

THE  DUKE   OF  SOMEESET,  K.  G. 


"  Recte  enim  Veritas  filia  temporis  dicitur  non  auctoritatis." 

Nov.  Org.  lib.  1. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    &    COMPANY, 

549   &   551   BROADWAY. 
1872. 


PEEFAOE. 


For  many  years  past,  religious  questions 
Lave  incessantly  interfered  witli  the  social  and 
educational  improvement  of  the  community. 
Instead  of  gradually  diminishing  in  their  ef- 
fects, these  causes  of  disturbances  seem  to  be 
increasing. 

A  politician  would  gladly  avoid  touching 
these  thorny  subjects,  but  he  observes  that  the 
religious  teachers  never  cease  from  intermed- 
dling with  politics. 

The  Church  of  Rome,  as  in  olden  times, 
pours  imprecations  on  our  heads ;  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  clergy,  in  the  United  King- 
dom, administer  the  same  balm  in  a  more  in- 
convenient form. 

The  Established  Church  distracts  us  with 
so  many  doctrinal   disputes  and  perplexing 


VI  PEEFACE. 

doubts,  tliat  we  almost  wish  slie  would  slum- 
ber again,  as  she  did  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  last  century. 

The  IsTon-conformists  appear  to  be  exas- 
perated, and  threaten  to  upset  every  thing, 
from  the  village-school  to  the  cabinet,  unless 
they  are  allowed  to  have  their  own  way. 

All  these  convulsive  movements  are  symp- 
toms of  mental  disquietude,  which  forebodes  a 
religious  change. 

Meanwhile,  every  Protestant  may  exercise 
his  private  judgment ;  and,  since  inquiry  can- 
not easily  make  matters  worse,  let  us  again 
examine  into  the  fountain-head  of  all  these 
differences,  and  see  whether  there  is  any  pos- 
sible solution  at  least  of  the  Protestant  diffi- 
culties. 

"We  live  in  an  age  of  free  thinking  and 
plain  speaking,  "rara  temporum  felicitate, 
ubi  sentire  quse  velis,  et,  qu[e  sentias  dicere, 
licet." 

BuLSTRODE,  November  J  1871. 


CONTENTS 


PAGB 

Introduction 

9 

Chapter  I. 

First  Difficulty        .... 

17 

II. 

The  Only  Yisible  Solution 

.    27 

III. 

The  Star,  etc 

29 

lY. 

Hebrew  Poetry 

.     33 

Y. 

The  Yirgin  Mary    .... 

35 

YI. 

The  Gloom  darkens  .... 

.     43 

YII. 

The  Open  Bible      .... 

46 

YIII. 

Historical  Truth        .... 

.     61 

IX. 

The  Search  for  Doctrines 

55 

X. 

The  Septuagint          .        .        ;        . 

.     60 

XI. 

The  Theology  of  the  Apocrypha    . 

65 

XII. 

The  Synagogues        .... 

.     69 

xni. 

The  First  Christian  Controversy    . 

73 

XIY. 

The  Horae  Paulinse     .... 

.     77 

XY. 

The  Epistles  contradict  the  Acts    . 

79 

XYI. 

More  Difficulties        .... 

.     81 

XYII. 

St.  Paul's  Last  Journey  to  Jerusalem    . 

83 

XYIII. 

St.  Paul  at  Rome       .... 

.     86 

Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


Chap.  XIX.  Gamaliel 

XX.  Stephen      . 

XXI.  Legendary  History 

XXII.  A  Ray  of  Liglit  . 

XXIII.  The  Pauline  Theology     . 

XXIV.  The  Pauline  Philosophy 
XXV.  Rival  Creeds 

XXVI.  Modern  Conclusions    . 

XXVII.  St.  Paul's  Style  of  Writing 

XXVIII.  The  Pauline  AUegories 

XXIX.  Predestination 

XXX.  The  Sacrifice       . 

XXXI.  Faith      .... 

XXXII.  St.  Paul's  Place  in  History 

XXXIII.  The  Growth  of  Theology 

XXXIV.  Heresy 
XXXV.  Recapitulation 

XXXVI.  Colorless  Christianity 

XXXVII.  Modern  Education 

XXXVIII.  Two  Opposite  Developments  of  Chris 

tianity 

XXXIX.  A  Glimpse  of  Better  Days      . 


PAGE 

90 
92 
98 
100 
103 
105 
108 
111 
115 
120 
128 
131 
13T 
152 
154 
160 
164 
169 
1*73 

111 
179 


lE'TEODUOTIOI^ 


It  is  humiliating  to  be  obliged  to  confess 
that,  after  eighteen  hundred  years  of  Christian 
teaching,  man  has  made  no  advance  in  cer- 
tainty of  religious  knowledge. 

So  far  from  any  approach  to  certainty,  the 
opinions  of  educated  society  upon  the  most 
important  questions  which  can  occupy  the 
human  mind,  appear  at  the  present  time  to 
be  more  unsettled  than  at  any  previous  period 
of  European  history. 

In  every  other  branch  of  knowledge  as- 
siduous study  and  persevering  industry  have 
been  rewarded  with  at  least  partial  success. 
Some  progress  has  been  made,  and  some  re- 
sults obtained,  which,  while  they  have  con- 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

tribnted  to  the  convenience  or  to  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind,  have  encouraged  fresh  ex- 
ertions and  opened  a  prospect  of  future  ac- 
quisitions. 

In  the  study  of  revealed  religion  this  pro- 
cess seems  to  have  been  reversed.  The  labor 
of  successive  generations,  the  services  of  men 
especially  set  apart  for  this  teaching,  thfe 
accumulated  learning  of  former  ages,  the 
voluminous  and  still  increasing  literature  of 
the  present  day,  all  alike  fail  in  establishing 
any  generally-acknowledged  definite  convic- 
tions. On  the  contrary,  in  all  free  communi- 
ties the  greatest  diversity  of  religious  opinion 
prevails ;  doubts  and  controversies  range  over 
a  wider  area  in  proportion  to  the  advance- 
ment of  learning,  until  the  differences  of 
Christian  sects  lose  their  significance  in 
comparison  with  far  deeper  questions,  which 
are  attracting  the  notice  of  educated  society. 

A  reference  to  former  years  will  show  the 
change  in  religious  thought  which  has  gradu- 
ally forced  its  way  through  the  cultivated 
classes  of  the  community. 


INTRODUCTIOX.  H 

At  the  beginning  of  tlie  last  century  tlie 
boundaiy-line  between  religious  and  skeptical 
literature  was  distinct  and  definite.  The  skep- 
tical writers  were  then  the  open  enemies  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  avowed  opponents  of  Christian- 
ity. The  clergy  retorted  on  their  adversaries 
with  great  bitterness  and  ability,  branded 
them  with  the  name  of  Atheists,  and  made 
no  allowance  for  the  mildest  suggestion  of 
doubt. 

Philosophy,  science,  and  literature,  were 
then  the  firm  friends  and  defenders  of  re- 
vealed religion.  Locke  paraphrased  the  Pau- 
line epistles.  Sir  Isaac  N^ewton  expounded 
prophecy.  Addison  cited  with  complacent 
confidence  the  letter  of  King  Agbarus  to 
Christ,  as  a  record  of  great  authority,  and  an 
evidence  of  Christian  truth. 

In  the  present  day  philosophy  and  science 
stand  aloof  in  unfriendly  attitudes,  while  lit- 
erature gives  currency  to  a  thousand  specula- 
tive opinions  unfavorable  to  the  old  estab- 
lished beliefs. 

This  change  is  the  result  of  various  influ- 


12  INTRODUCTIOX. 

ences.  The  progress  of  physical  science,  the 
critical  examination  of  ancient  history  in  con- 
nection with  kindred  researches,  and,  above 
all,  the  continued  study  of  the  Scriptures,  have 
concurred  to  modify  the  religious  beliefs  of 
the  Protestant  world. 

The  whole  system  of  modern  education 
tends  toward  the  same  result.  Men  who 
have  been  carefully  trained  to  distrust  au- 
thority, and  to  rely  for  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge  upon  experiment,  analysis,  and 
patient  research,  cannot  subsequently  divest 
themselves  of  a  habit  of  mind  which  has  be- 
come a  part  of  their  nature.  They  must 
either  suppress  and  relinquish  all  religious 
thought,  or  they  must  apply  to  the  records 
of  revealed  religion  the  same  s})irit  of  inves- 
tigation, which  has  already  reopened  the 
sources  of  history,  and  extended  the  domain 
of  science. 

With  the  diffusion  of  education  these  in- 
fluences will  be  more  widely  felt.  It  is  now 
manifest  that  theological  and  secular  instruc- 
tion run  in  two  opposite  currents  of  thought. 


INTRODUCTION.  I3 

The  divergence  may  occasionally  be  glossed 
over  by  dazzling  eloquence,  or  concealed 
under  a  liaze  of  metaphysical  learning,  but 
the  enchantment  is  soon  disjDelled,  and  the 
two  antagonists  arise  again,  striving  for  mas- 
tery over  the  human  mind. 

More  than  two  centuries  have  elapsed  since 
Selden  declared  that  the  words  "  scrutamini 
scripturas  "  had  undone  the  world.  The  in- 
terval has  tended,  in  one  sense  at  least,  to 
confirm  his  prediction.  The  search  of  the 
Scriptures  has  impaired  the  authority  of 
Scripture,  and  the  learned  endeavors  to  re- 
move obscurity  have  increased  doubt. 

Hence  skepticism  has  been  naturalized  in 
modern  society,  and  will  not  be  repressed  by 
denunciations  against  infidelity,  or  by  the 
lamentations  of  sentimental  piety. 

The  efforts  of  thoughtful  and  earnest 
minds  to  arrive  at  religious  truth  have  in  all 
ages  produced  some  form  of  skepticism.  A 
dissatisfaction  with  the  prevalent  beliefs  of 
their  countrymen  is  visible  in  the  sublime 
thoughts  of  the   Hebrew  prophets,  who  re- 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

jected  with  scorn  the  precepts  of  the  cere- 
monial law.  An  analogous  feeling  gave  birth 
to  the  moral  skepticism  of  the  book  of  Job, 
and  to  the  intellectual  doubts  of  the  book  of 
Ecclesiastes. 

A  somewhat  similar  mental  disturbance  is 
observable  in  every  period  of  mental  activity. 
It  is  not  therefore  surprising  that  in  the  pres- 
ent day  there  should  be  many  varieties  of 
skepticism,  each  of  which  has  its  own  special 
and  appropriate  literature. 

The  philosophical  skeptic  examines  into 
the  original  source  of  religious  belief  in  the 
human  mind,  plunges  his  reader  into  a  maze 
of  metaphysics,  and  represents  every  religion 
to  be  merely  a  phase  of  thought. 

The  scientific  skeptic  reasons  from  the 
known  to  the  unknown,  rejects  the  miracu- 
lous, and  regards  revelation  as  an  untenable 
theory. 

The  antiquarian  skeptic  explores  records 
of  undated  antiquity,  pursues  the  shadowy 
forms  of  Mithra  or  Zoroaster,  and  gropes 
amono-  Oriental  relics  until  he  half  believes 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

that  lie  can  descry  the  cradle  of  Christianity 
hidden  amid  the  myths  and  cosmogonies  of 
the  remote  East. 

Different  minds  are  fascinated  by  these 
different  pursuits,  and  each  may  perhaps  have 
its  use  in  stimulating  the  instruction  of  man- 
kind. 

Meanwhile,  under  these  various  impulses, 
the  progress  of  religious  education  is  impeded, 
and  the  wisdom  of  Parliament  is  perplexed. 

While  our  statesmen  and  public  speakers 
are  proclaiming  the  indispensable  necessity 
of  a  Christian  education ;  while  our  clergy 
are  insisting  on  dogmatic  theology,  skepticism 
pervades  the  whole  atmosphere  of  thought, 
leads  the  most  learned  societies,  colors  the 
religious  literature  of  the  day,  and  even 
mounts  into  the  pulpits  of  the  Church. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  grave  mistake  to 
assume  that  skepticism  is  in  its  nature  irre- 
ligious or  immoral.  Some  minds  in  their 
eager  search  for  truth,  while  recoiling  from 
dogmatic  theology,  have  indeed  wandered 
beyond  the  confines  of  Christianity.     But  the 


16  IXTKODUCTIOX. 

mass,  of  society  is  anxiously  seekiug  a  belief 
wliicli  shall  not  be  at  issne  with  tlie  moral 
sense  of  educated  men. 

For  this  purpose  theologians,  biblical  crit- 
ics, and  other  learned  men,  have  toiled  inces- 
santly, and  it  is  now  obvious  that  the  the- 
ology of  former  ages  cannot  be  permanently 
maintained. 

To  enter  fully  into  these  elaborate  in- 
quiries would  occupy  too  large  a  space,  but 
the  following  pages  contain  a  condensed  out- 
line of  the  reasoning  upon  Christian  history 
and  Christian  doctrine,  which  is  thought  to 
justify  the  opinion  here  expressed. 

The  several  points  at  issue  are  compressed 
into  short  chapters,  so  as  not  tediously  to  re- 
peat objections,  which  are  abeady  familiar  to 
many  readers,  who  will  thus  be  enabled,  from 
a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  subject,  to  per- 
ceive the  process  of  religious  change,  which  is 
gradually  permeating  the  Protestant  world. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   FIRST   DIFFICrLTY. 

So  LONG  as  Christians  believed  in  the  per- 
sonification of  evil,  in  demoniacal  possession, 
in  the  frequent  intervention  of  the  devil,  and 
in  a  vast  scheme  of  Satanic  agency  visibly 
disturbinor  the  order  of  Katnre,  manv  mar- 
vellons  incidents  related  in  the  Gospels  were 
in  nnison  with  popular  belief.  These  narra- 
tives, so  far  from  presenting  any  difficulty 
to  Christians,  Tvere  regarded  as  evidence,  and 
adduced  in  proof,  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospels. 

Satan  appeared  to  be  a  reluctant,  but  ir- 
refutable, witness  on  behalf  of  the  Chi'istian 
revelation.  He  had,  as  the  Gospels  stated, 
openly  recognized  Jesus,  admitting  his  divine 
power,  but  deprecating  its  exercise. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  Christian 
era   until   comparatively  modem    times  the 


18  THE  riKST  DIFFICULTY. 

existence  of  evil  spirits  was  appealed  to  in 
vindication  of  the  Gospel  history. 

During  many  centuries  the  fear  of  the 
devil,  and  the  dread  of  falling  under  his  do- 
minion, were  strong  inducements  to  the  out- 
ward observances  of  religion,  and  even  some- 
times to  the  practice  of  moral  \drtue.  The 
authority  of  the  clergy  was  moreover  enhanced 
by  their  supposed  ability  to  counteract  this 
fearful  adversary. 

Thus  Satan,  while  he  was  the  terror  of 
the  multitude,  was  also  the  efficient  ally  of  the 
priest.  In  some  cases  he  became  the  guardian 
angel  of  the  Church,  strengthening  her  empire, 
and  enabling  her  to  repress  the  lawless  violence 
of  men,  whom  no  human  authority  could  con- 
trol. 

It  cannot,  however,  be  denied  that  this  be- 
lief was  attended  with  many  evils.  History  re- 
cords the  fearful  persecutions  which  supersti- 
tious ignorance  inflicted  on  persons  who  were 
supposed  to  be  in  league  with  the  devil.  These 
acts  of  cruelty  were  often  countenanced  and 
sometimes  instigated  by  Christian  teachers. 


THE  FIRST  DIFFICULTY.  19 

The  Reformation,  wliicli  dissipated  some 
venerable  illusions,  seems  to  have  increased 
the  popular  belief  in  the  active  intervention 
of  evil  spirits.  The  Protestant  clergy  of  all 
denominations  insisted  on  the  verbal  accuracy 
of  the  Scriptures — what  the  clergy  taught, 
the  law  confirmed ;  the  reality  of  demoniacal 
possession,  with  all  its  cruel  and  mischievous 
consequences,  was  universally  acknowledged ; 
and  the  Scripture  furnished  the  devil  with  his 
credentials. 

The  first  symptoms  of  disbelief  in  the  mar- 
vellous stories  of  Satanic  agency  were  repre- 
hended by  the  clergy,  and  repressed  by  the 
religious  feelings  of  society.  It  was  deemed 
presumptuous  freethinking  to  question  modern 
instances  of  diabolic  possession.  This  opinion 
checked  inquiry,  and  silenced  the  expression 
of  doubt. 

The  sermons  of  our  most  distinguished 
divines  will  prove  to  how  late  a  period  the 
belief  in  the  intervention  of  the  devil  was 
regarded  as  an  important  bulwark  of  the 
Christian  faith. 


20  THE  FIRST  DIFFICULTY. 

Open,  for  instance,  tlie  sermons  of  Barrow, 
and  his  works  are  selected,  not  only  because 
he  was  a  man  distinguished  for  vigor  of  mind 
and  compass  of  knowledge,  but  more  especially 
because  he  was  a  man  of  science,  the  preceptor 
of  Newton,  and  foremost  among  the  founders 
of  the  Eojal  Society.  Barrow,  in  one  of  his 
sermons  on  the  Creed,  speaks  of  apparitions, 
visions,  intercourse,  and  confederacy  with  bad 
spirits:  "All  these  things,"  he  adds,  "any 
man  who  shall  affirm  them  to  be  mere  fiction 
and  delusion,  must  thereby  with  exceeding 
immodesty  charge  the  world  with  vanity  and 
malignity,  worthy  historians  with  inconsider- 
ateness  and  fraud,  lawgivers  with  silliness  or 
rashness,  and  a  vast  number  of  witnesses  with 
the  greatest  malice  or  madness, — all  which 
have  concurred  to  assert  these  matters  of  fact." 
Barrow  then  applies  his  argument :  "  The 
truth  and  reality  of  these  things,  if  admitted, 
contribute  much  to  the  belief  of  that  divinity 
which  our  discourse  studies  to  maintain." 

In  a  similar  strain.  Bull  (Bishop  of  St.  Da- 
vid's) ventures,  while  defending  Scripture,  to 


TUE   FIRST  DIFFICULTY.  21 

assert,  "  In  our  own  age  we  have  bad  some 
unquestionable  instances  of  persons  possessed 
by  evil  spirits." 

Any  person  w^ho  at  that  time  bad  presumed 
to  question  tbese  matters  of  fact,  would  bave 
incurred  tbe  imputation  of  infidelity  or  of 
atbeism,  wbile  devout  believers  would  bave 
cited  in  justification  of  tbeir  opinion  tbe  au- 
tbority  of  tbe  scientific  Barrow,  and  of  tbe 
learned  Bisbop  Bull. 

Yet  now  tbe  wortby  historians,  tbe  wise 
lawgivers,  tbe  vast  concourse  of  witnesses,  are 
all  equally  unavailing;  tbe  spell  is  broken, 
tbe  evil  spirits  bave  vanished,  and  these  phan- 
toms of  discredited  tradition  will  not  again 
revisit  a  more  experienced  and  incredulous 
world. 

If  the  reality  of  these  things,  according  to 
the  argument  of  Barrow,  contributed  to  tbe 
belief  of  that  system  of  divinity  which  he 
labored  to  maintain,  it  must  equally  follow 
that  tbe  unreality  of  these  things,  if  admitted, 
will  lead  to  the  opposite  conclusion.  This 
result  has  occurred.     The  evil  spirits  of  tbe 


22  THE  FIRST  DIFFICULTY. 

Gospels  liave  shared  the  fate  of  their  legitimate 
descendants ;  they  also  were  the  creations  of 
a  popular  delusion,  which,  having  been  erro- 
neously accredited  by  the  Evangelists,  took 
forcible  possession  of  the  Christian  mind. 
The  language  of  the  fathers,  the  prayers  of 
the  saints,  the  exorcisms  of  the  Church,  .con- 
firmed instead  of  invalidating  their  base  ten- 
ure, until  they  were  finally  cast  out  and  ex- 
pelled by  the  unanimous  disbelief  of  a  more 
instructed  society. 

Here,  then,  is  the  first  divergence  of  modern 
society  from  the  Gospel  history.  The  educated 
Protestant  no  longer  believes  what  the  Evan- 
gelists believed  and  affirmed. 

This  altered  condition  of  belief  constitutes 
a  serious  difficulty,  because  it  constrains  every 
thoughtful  man  to  consider  how  far  the  Gos- 
pel narratives  can  be  implicitly  accepted  as 
of  Divine  authority,  or  even  as  historical 
truth. 

The  ministers  of  religion,  in  treating  of 
these  marvellous  incidents,  usually  suggest 
that  Jesus  perhaps  condescended  to  use  the 


THE  FIRST  DIFFICULTY.  23 

popular  language  of  Ms  age  and  country.  He 
acquiesced,  tliey  say,  in  erroneous  beliefs, 
which  could  only  be  corrected  by  the  future 
advancement  of  human  knowledge. 

This  explanation  is  evasive,  and  moreover 
involves  the  admission  of  a  serious  misstate- 
ment on  the  part  of  the  Evangelists,  who  cite 
the  evil  spirits  as  witnesses  to  the  divine 
power  of  Jesus.  These  narratives,  if  they 
are  accepted  as  true,  give  a  solemn  sanction 
to  the  belief  in  Satanic  possession,  and  did 
practically  establish  it  for  many  centuries. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  'New  Testa- 
ment justifies  the  obvious  solution  that  these 
Gospels  are  not  exempt  from  human  imperfec- 
tion. 

The  first  three  Evangelists  record  these 
marvels,  while  the  fourth  gospel  altogether 
omits  these  demoniacs.  Was  this  silence  a 
tacit  repudiation  of  idle  tales,  which  the 
writer  of  that  gospel  did  not  wish  openly  to 
contradict  ? 

The  author  of  the  Acts  mentions  similar 
marvels.     One  most  remarkable  instance  is 


24  THE  FIRST  DIFFICULTY. 

said  to  liave  occurred  at  Epliesus.  According 
to  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  St.  John  is 
supposed  to  have  resided  afterward  at  Ephe- 
sus,  yet  he  did  not  confirm  any  such  narra- 
tives, or  adduce  them  as  x^roofs  of  the  divine 
nature  of  Jesus. 

St.  Paul,  again,  although  repeatedly  al- 
luding to  a  spiritual  power  of  evil,  did  not  in 
any  of  his  epistles  proclaim  such  a  material 
and  visible  agency  of  Satan. 

Hence  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  first 
three  Evangelists  shared  the  superstitious  no- 
tions of  their  countrymen,  and  felt  no  hesita- 
tion in  recording  traditions  which  were  cur- 
rent among  their  contemporaries. 

They,  in  common  with  other  Jews,  be- 
lieved that  an  evil  spirit  could  enter  into  the 
bodies  of  men,  use  human  organs  as  passive 
instruments,  and  exhibit  supernatural  knowl- 
edge through  the  agency  of  the  human  voice. 

According  to  the  belief  of  these  Evange- 
lists, this  was  the  order  of  !N^ature,  and  the 
miraculous  power  of  Jesus  was  displayed  in 
superseding  that    order,   and  in   compelling 


THE   FIRST   DIFFICULTY.  25 

tlie  evil  spirits  to  relinquish  their  inifortunato 
victims. 

The  rejection  of  these  narratives  is  founded 
on  the  attentive  study  of  Scripture.  The  class 
of  miracles  in  relation  to  demoniacs  can  only 
be  accepted  by  first  accepting  the  order  of 
Nature  indispensable  to  the  exercise  of  this 
miraculous  power. 

The  argument  for  or  against  miracles  does 
not  here  enter  into  the  question  at  issue. 
These  narratives  belong  to  Jewish  traditions, 
and  are  rejected  as  traditional. 

This  view,  if  adopted,  undoubtedly  impairs 
the  authority  of  the  Gospel  history.  On  this 
subject  change  of  opinion  is  inevitable.  There 
are,  it  has  been  said,  many  other  illusions 
which  will  be  gradually  cast  out  of  the  Prot- 
estant mind,  although  they  may  rend  their 
victim  as  they  come  out  of  him,  and  leave 
him  half  dead  at  their  departure. 

The  whole  subject  of  Satanic  agency  has 
occupied  the  attention  of  learned  men  in  its 
two  phases,  namely,  as  a  popular  delusion, 
and  as  a  fanciful  philosophic  theory.     Both 


26  THE  FIRST   DIFFICULTY. 

these  forms  of  belief  are  found  in  the  Apocry- 
phal books,  while  in  the  'Nesv  Testament  the 
first  is  described  in  the  Gospels,  and  the  last 
in  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul. 

To  these  last  it  will  be  convenient  to  re- 
vert hereafter. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

THE   ONLY  VISIBLE    SOLUTION. 

"When  once  human  error  has  been  ac- 
cepted as  the  solution  of  Scriptural  difficulties, 
many  portions  of  the  Gospel  history  will  be 
readily  subjected  to  the  same  mode  of  expla- 
nation. 

The  manifestations  connected  with  the 
nativity  and  baptism  of  Jesus  had  in  early 
times  been  withdrawn  from  the  province  of 
legitimate  history.  The  angelic  visions  of 
Zacharias  and  of  the  Yirgin ;  the  alternate 
hymns  sung  by  Elizabeth  and  Mary ;  the  choir 
of  angels  chanting  to  the  shepherds  ;  the  visit 
of  the  Eastern  sages  under  the  guidance  of  a 
star,  and  their  homage  to  the  King  of  the 
Jews — are  all  incidents  presented  in  the  po- 
etical form  of  earlier  Hebrew  records. 


28  THE   OXLY  VISIBLE  SOLUTIOX. 

So,  again,  at  the  baptism,  tlie  opening  of 
the  heavens,  the  miraculous  voice,  the  divine 
nature  descending  in  the  bodily  form  of  a 
dove,  were  regarded,  it  is  said  even  by  Luther 
and  by  Calvin,  as  unhistorical  though  sacred 
recitals,  typical  of  divine  truth. 


CHAPTEK  III. 

THE   STAR. 
Stella  facein  ducens  multa  cum  luce  cucurrit. 

MoDEKJN"  society  has  discarded  astrology  as 
a  fictitious  science.  When,  however,  St.  Au- 
gustine found  it  necessary  to  denounce  this 
study,  and  in  later  centuries,  when  the  Church 
excommunicated  astrologers,  the  marvellous 
luminary,  which  was  recognized  by  Eastern 
sages  to  be  the  special  star  belonging  to  the 
King  of  the  Jews,  seemed  to  establish  the 
truth  of  this  science,  and  thus  to  contravene 
the  preaching  of  the  saint  and  the  censures 
of  the  Church. 

The  astronomers  of  a  former  age,  not  ven- 
turing to  doubt  the  verbal  accuracy  of  the 
Scriptures,  sought  some  stellar  phenomenon 
to  confirm  what  they  held  to  be  revealed  truth. 


30  THE  STAR. 

Thus  Kepler  entered  into  elaborate  calcula- 
tions to  explain  this  strange  star  by  planetary 
perturbations. 

Modern  expounders  of  Scripture  now  admit 
that  the  star  belongs  to  the  poetical  imagery 
of  a  nascent  creed.  It  has,  indeed,  a  curious 
family  likeness  to  the  star  described  by  Yirgil, 
and  even  recalls  the  astrological  associations 
commemorated  by  Horace.  Poets  are  often 
plagiarists,  and  fiction  repeats  itself  in  different 
minds.  The  Protestant,  therefore,  feels  him- 
self justified  in  discarding  this  j)ortion  of  the 
Gospel  from  the  category  of  authentic  history. 

In  a  typical  or  figm'ative  sense  the  narra- 
tive contains  a  truth. 

The  East  did  bestow  her  gifts  on  the  new 
religion,  although  the  European  world  has 
not  willingly  acknowledged  the  contribution. 

"Wisdom  and  wealth  have  bowed  down  in 
humble  submission  to  the  superior  power  of 
a  faith  which,  in  its  original  purity,  must  for- 
ever hold  the  human  mind  in  subjection. 

The  voice  from  heaven  at  the  baptism  of 
Jesus  is   necessarily  associated  with  suuilar 


THE   STAR.  31 

incidents  related  in  other  chapters  of  the 
Kew  Testament. 

A  "belief  in  these  heavenly  voices  was  a 
common  superstition  of  the  Jews.  The  epistle 
ascribed  to  St.  Peter  so  far  disparages  these 
voices  that  it  refers  to  the  word  of  prophecy 
as  a  more  sure  proof  of  divine  truth.  Sherlock, 
in  his  Discourse  on  the  Prophecies,  observes : 
"  Is  it  possible  that  St.  Peter,  or  any  man  in 
his  senses,  could  make  such  a  comparison  ? " 
Sherlock  reasoned  according  to  the  opinion 
of  his  own  day ;  but,  when  that  epistle  was 
wTitten,  the  frequency  of  these  "  airy  tongues 
that  syllable  men's  names  "  was  so  generally 
recognized  that  familiarity  had  weakened 
their  effect.  A  modern  Protestant  cannot  be 
expected  to  be  more  Catholic  than  St.  Peter, 
or  to  attach  high  authority  to  a  phenomenon 
which  an  Apostle  had  depreciated. 

The  dove  was  an  accepted  type  of  heaven- 
ly wisdom,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  writings  of 
Philo.  The  dove  had  been  an  object  of  popu- 
lar veneration  in  Palestine,  and  it  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  a  special  miracle  was  per- 


32  THE  STAR. 

formed  for  tlie  purpose  of  consecrating  an  old 
Syrian  superstition. 

These  symbols  have  the  stamp  of  Jewish 
legends,  and  it  is  now  needless  to  discuss  them 
further. 

'' volitat  crebras  intacta  per  urbes 

Alba  PalK}stino  sancta  cokimba  Svro." 


CHAPTER  lY. 

HEBREW     P  O  E  T  E  Y. 

"  Utiiiam  tarn  facile  vera  invenire  posslm  quam  falsa   con- 
vincere." 

If  tlie  early  cliapters  of  tlie  Gospel  history 
can  no  longer  be  received  as  a  record  of  actual 
events,  this  conclusion  has  been  arrived  at 
from  the  study  of  Scripture  itself. 

Hymns  recalling  scenes  and  associations  of 
the  Hebrew  race  may  have  fascinated  the  first 
disciples,  by  a  shadowy  promise  of  the  over- 
throw of  their  heathen  conquerors,  and  the 
establishment  of  a  Jewish  kingdom  under  a 
national  sovereign.  But  we  may  reasonably 
suppose  that  the  language  was  typical,  and 
capable  only  of  a  metaphorical  fulfilment. 

The  chief  interest  of  these  chapters  now 
consists  in  the  light  which  they  throw  upon 


34:  HEBREW  POETRY. 

tlie  date  when  sucli  lijmns  could  have  been 
written,  or  at  least  orally  repeated.  They  bear 
the  distinctive  features  of  Judaism,  and  must 
have  been  circulated  among  the  first  Jewish 
converts.  Such  poems  could  hardly  have 
originated  among  a  subsequent  generation, 
when  the  whole  character  of  Christianity  was 
already  changed.  This  chronological  testi- 
mony aj^pears  to  refute  the  theories  which 
ascribe  the  Gospels  to  a  later  period. 

The  hymns  and  types  of  the  Gospels  may 
still  please  imaginative  minds,  but  they  do  not 
satisfy  the  religious  wants  of  the  present  age. 
The  exigencies  of  modern  thought  require 
more  distinct  and  definite  convictions.  Serious 
men  will  say :  "  If  these  books  are  so  deeply 
colored  by  the  popular  traditions  and  poetical 
imagery  of  the  Hebrew  race,  where  does  re- 
liable history  begin  ?  If  the  nativity  of  Jesus 
is  thus  surrounded  by  legends,  is  the  Yirgin 
herself  historical  ? " 


CHAPTEK  Y. 

THE    VIRGIN   MARY. 

"Caput  inter  nubilacondit." 

It  lias  been  frequently  observed  that,  in 
studying  the  early  records  of  a  nation,  tbe 
attempt  to  separate  actual  history  from  legen- 
dary tradition  becomes  a  hopeless  task.  The 
same  obscurity  unfortunately  overclouds  the 
dawn  of  Christianity.  The  biblical  student, 
in  his  honest  endeavor  to  obtain  historical 
truth,  finds  himself  bewildered  in  a  maze  of 
]3oetry  which  intercepts  his  course.  If,  in  his 
efforts  to  escape  from  this  enchanted  ground, 
he  turns  to  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  the 
Apostle  only  increases  his  doubts.  Paul  al- 
ludes more  than  once  to  the  lineage  of  Jesus, 
but  he  never  mentions  the  Yirgin  Mary.  This 
omission  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  the 


36  THE   VIRGIX  MARY. 

Apostle  is  unusuallj  precise  in  relating  the 
lineage  of  Jesns.  Panl  emphatically  states : 
"Jesus  was  of  the  seed  of  David  according 
to  the  flesh,  and  was  declared  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  in  power  according  to  the  spirit  of 
holiness  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead." 

Paul  omits  the  angelic  annunciation,  the 
miraculous  birth,  and  the  heavenly  acknowl- 
edgment at  the  baptism.  He  moreover  as- 
serts that  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  was 
the  act  by  which  the  divine  nature  of  Jesus 
was  established, 

St.  Paul  assuredly  gave  no  heed  to  the 
endless  genealogies  which  have  perplexed 
modern  commentators,  but  it  is  not  easy  to 
explain  his  total  silence  on  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
while  the  Epistles  vindicate  the  divine  nature 
of  Jesus.  An  irrepressible  suspicion  arises 
that,  either  the  miraculous  nativity  was  a 
later  tradition,  or  that  Paul  did  not  accept 
the  narrative  which  was  subsequently  incor- 
porated in  two  of  the  Gospels. 

Zealous  devotion  delights  in  magnifying 
the  object  of  its  affectionate  enthusiasm,  and 


THE    VIRGLV   MARY.  37 

legendary  beliefs  grow  up  rapidly  under  the 
unconscious  action  of  sympathizing  minds. 
In  all  traditions  popular  belief  usually  selects 
the  one  which  appears  most  marvellous,  and 
consequently  the  tenet,  that  Jesus  was  of  the 
seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh,  was  will- 
ingly set  aside,  and  a  birth  contrary  to  the 
flesh  became  the  prevalent  doctrine. 

By  disjoining  the  words  of  Isaiah  from  the 
context  to  which  they  belong,  and  affixing  a 
precise  meaning  to  an  expression  of  doubtful 
signification,  a  prophecy  was  made  applicable 
to  the  occasion.  This  belief  was  further  as- 
sisted by  an  Eastern  notion  of  special  purity, 
which  was  associated  with  birth  from  a  vir- 
gin. 

St.  Paul  had  discountenanced  this  notion 
when  he  wrote :  "  I  am  persuaded  by  the 
Lord  Jesus  that  nothing  is  unclean  of  itself." 
As  time  advanced,  the  superstitious  doctrine 
of  purity  increasing  in  intensity  led  later  wor- 
shippers to  declare  that  Mary  after  the  birth 
of  Jesus  must  always  have  continued  to  be  a 
virgin.     In  this  they  contradicted  the  admoni- 


38  THE  VIRGIN  MARY. 

tion  of  the  angel  as  related  by  Matthew,  but 
the  same  zeal  which  set  aside  the  language  of 
an  Apostle,  could  easily  disregard  the  asser- 
tions of  an  Evangelist. 

Paul  had  indeed  mentioned  the  Lord's 
brother,  and  there  was  scriptural  evidence 
of  brothers  and  sisters.  These  statements 
were  all  discarded  as  a  disx^aragement  tp 
Mary.  These  brothers,  it  was  said,  were 
cousins,  or  Joseph  was  a  widower,  and  even 
ninety  years  old,  when  he  married  Mary, 
while  these  brothers  were  his  children  by  a 
former  wife. 

This  glorification  of  Mary  became  grad- 
ually insufficient  for  the  increasing  devotion 
of  the  faithful,  and  new  honors  were  invented. 
"  The  master  of  superstition,"  says  Bacon, 
*'  is  the  people,  and  in  all  superstitions  wise 
men  follow  fools."  The  Church,  whether 
leading  or  following,  consecrated  every  suc- 
cessive legend.  It  was  affirmed  that  Mary's 
mother  was  a  saint,  and  the  birth  of  Mary 
herself  must  have  been  free  from  the  sinful 
taint  of  the  flesh. 


THE   VIRGIN  MARY.  39 

In  succeeding  centuries  the  imagination 
of  pious  men  took  a  still  Mglier  flight,  and 
another  elevation  of  Mary  was  announced.  A 
special  blessing  had  been  promised  to  the  pure 
in  heart,  and  this  privilege  must  in  Mary  have 
received  a  literal  accomplishment.  Mary  must 
have  ascended  in  the  body  to  heaven. 

Thus  the  beatified  Yirgin  was  exalted 
above  all  the  saints  of  heaven,  and  in  every 
church  a  chapel  or  an  altar  was  dedicated 
to  the  mother  of  God.  In  many  Christian 
churches  her  painted  and  jewelled  e^gj  may 
still  be  seen,  draped  in  a  celestial  robe,  with 
a  radiant  glory  on  her  head,  receiving  the 
adoration  or  the  offerings  of  her  suppliant 
votaries. 

Between  the  significant  silence  of  the 
Pauline  epistles  and  the  last  pontifical  cli- 
max of  extravagant  adulation,  there  were 
several  gradations  or  developments  of  doc- 
trine. Every  successive  generation  paid  some 
tribute  to  the  shrine  of  Mary.  The  first  age 
was  certainly  not  deficient  in  imaginative 
piety,   and  the   contemporaries  of  St.  Paul 


40  THE   YIRGIX   MARY. 

were  not  more  careful  of  historical  truth 
than  Christians  in  subsequent  centuries. 

The  doctrine  of  the  bodily  assumption  of 
the  Yirgin  seems  to  conflict  with  another 
Catholic  tradition,  according  to  which  the 
Yirgin  Mary  was  buried  at  Ephesus. 

In  that  city,  at  all  events,  the  tomb  of  the 
Yirgin  was  shown.  There  also  the  first  cathe- 
dral was  dedicated  to  her,  and  divine  honors 
paid  to  her.  This  veneration  or  worship  was 
in  the  first  instance  censured  by  the  Church, 
but  it  was  afterward  permitted  and  eventual- 
ly encouraged. — {See  on  this  point  Tillemont, 
Hist.  Eccles.) 

Thus,  it  may  be  observed,  at  Ephesus  one 
virgin  displaced  another — Mary  superseded 
Diana,  and  the  mother  of  God  received  the 
incense  which,  had  been  previously  ofi*ered  to 
the  many-bosomed  mother  of  K"ature.  The 
Ephesians,  therefore,  still  retained  their  tute- 
lary goddess,  but  the  new  idolatry  was  cleansed 
from  all  sensual  accompaniments,  the  altar  was 
no  longer  defiled  with  blood. 

The  worship  of  the  Yirgin  has  generally 


THE   VIHGIN   MARY.  41 

exercised  a  baneful  influence  on  the  character 
of  tlie  people  among  whom  it  has  prevailed. 
The  notion  that  supplicants,  by  propitiating 
the  mother  of  God,  could  secure  a  friend  at 
the  court  of  heaven,  tended  to  vitiate  religion. 
Her  fabled  interference,  even  in  this  life,  was 
countenanced  bj  the  priesthood,  who  gave 
currency  to  a  thousand  idle  tales,  whereby  the 
laws  of  [N'ature  and  of  morality  were  alike  vio- 
lated. Hence,  throughout  a  large  portion  of 
the  Christian  world,  the  Yirgin  has  become 
the  favorite  object  of  popular  devotion,  while 
the  moral  Kuler  of  the  universe  is  forgot- 
ten. 

This  serious  evil  is  inadequately  compen- 
sated by  the  more  refined  feeling  for  artistic 
beauty  which  the  worship  of  the  Madonna 
may  have  evoked. 

Among  Protestants  the  Yirgin  Mary  may, 
it  is  said,  be  harmlessly  venerated  as  the 
idealized  impersonation  of  purity,  the  deified 
conception  of  heavenly  love,  the  hallowed 
type  of  divine  condescension  ; 


42  THE  VIRGIN   MARY. 

"  Still  to  the  lowly  soul 

He  dotii  Himself  impart, 
And  for  His  cradle  and  His  throne 
Chooses  the  pure  in  heart." 

Yeneration,  however,  is  closely  allied  to 
worship,  and  worship  brought  in  its  train  ro- 
saries, salutations,  and  an  endless  variety  of 
superstitions  usages,  debasing  man  and  dis- 
honoring God. 

On  a  calm  survey  of  the  history  relating 
to  the  mysterious  union  of  the  divine  with  the 
human  nature,  there  appear  to  have  been  in 
the  primitive  Church  three  diiferent  beliefs  : 

The  belief  of  St.  Paul  that  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  was  the  first  declaration  of  his 
divine  nature. 

The  belief  that  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  at  the  baptism  was  the  miracle  wherein 
the  union  was  accomplished. 

The  belief  in  a  material  union  before  the 
birth.  This  doctrine  eventually  prevailed, 
and  all  other  ideas  were  denounced  and  sup- 
pressed as  heretical. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

THE    GLOOM    DARKENS. 

Quale  per  incertam  lunam  sub  luce  maligna 
Est  iter  in  silvis. 

The  difficulties  in  the  Gospel  history  do 
not  diminish  with  the  i)rogress  of  the  narra- 
tives. The  reader  finds  himself  bewildered 
by  deeper  perplexities  and  more  alarming 
doubts. 

The  moral  questions  which  necessarily 
arise  from  the  study  of  Scripture  remain  to 
this  day  unanswered. 

A  firm  belief  in  a  beneficent  and  merciful 
Deity  is  the  primary  and  most  cherished  prin- 
ciple of  Christianity : 

"  If  this  fail, 
The  pillared  firmament  is  rottenness, 
And  earth's  base  built  on  stubble." 


4-1.  THE   GLOOM   DARKENS. 

A  divine  command  had,  according  to 
Scrix3ture,  been  given  to  the  Jews  enjoining 
tliem  to  put  to  death  any  person,  although  he 
were  a  prophet  or  even  a  worker  of  miracles, 
who  should  turn  them  away  from  the  God  of 
their  fathers,  and  invite  them  to  a  new  reli- 
gion. This  command  was  clear,  peremptory , 
and  inexorahle.  In  what  position  were  the 
Jews  in  regard  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus? 
They  beheld  a  man,  who  (if  the  Gospels  are 
accurate)  reprobated  usages  handed  down 
from  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  frequent- 
ly violated  their  sabbaths,  and  desired  to 
establish  a  new  religion.  The  Jewish 
law  and  the  prophets  were  on  this  point 
equally  decided.  Jehovah  had  said,  "  I  am 
the  Lord,  and  beside  me  there  is  no  Sav- 
iour." 

Yet  these  Jews  now  saw  a  man  whose 
parentage  was  known,  who  had  dwelt  for 
thirty  years  in  a  provincial  town,  whence  he 
had  lately  come  forth  as  the  teacher  of  a  new 
religion.  If,  then,  the  Jewish  law  was  divine, 
the   Jews  must   either  have  associated   and 


THE   GLOOM   DARKENS.  45 

identified  Jesus  witli  Jeliovali,  or  have  treated 
him  as  a  blasphemer. 

Are  not  the  terrible  words  of  Ezekiel  ap- 
plicable to  this  unfortunate  nation :  "  I  gave 
them  statutes  that  were  not  good,  and  judg- 
ments whereby  they  should  not  live." 

The  foreknowledge  which  selected  Judas 
as  an  Apostle  suggests  other  moral  difficulties 
which  it  is  painful  to  reflect  upon. 

In  these  instances  the  conduct  ascribed  to 
the  divine  Being  appears  to  be  irreconcilable 
with  the  eternal  principles  of  justice  and  of 
benevolence.  There  is  a  discord  between  re- 
ligion and  morality.  Some  error  has  disar- 
ranged the  harmony,  which  should  prevail  in 
the  moral  as  well  as  in  the  material  world. 
Who  can  doubt  that,  whenever  Christianity  is 
more  fully  understood,  these  difficulties  will 
be  removed  ?  A  deeper  search,  or  a  more  en- 
larged view  of  religious  truth,  will  furnish  a 
solution,  even  if  it  should  necessitate  the  re- 
jection of  statements  supposed  to  be  divinely 
inspired. 


CHAPTEE  YII. 


THE   OPEN   BIBLE. 


A  STUDENT,  who  relies  on  the  reiterated 
assertion  that  Christianity  fears  no  inquiry, 
and  that  the  open  Bible  is  the  inheritance  of 
Protestants,  naturally  directs  his  attention  to 
the  elaborate  works  on  the  Gospel  history 
which  the  literature  of  the  present  century 
has  so  abundantly  supplied.  With  an  earnest 
desire  to  arrive  at  some  satisfactory  result,  he 
examines  histories  of  Christianity,  introduc- 
tions to  the  ISTew  Testament,  harmonies  of 
the  Gospels,  Christian  evidences,  lives  of 
Jesus,  treatises  on  the  nature  and  personality 
of  Christ,  and  other  works  calculated  to  ex- 
plain this  mysterious  subject. 

Even  the  cold  dissecting-knife  of  German 
criticism  causes  no  shudder  in  the  inquisitive 


THE   OPEN    BIBLE.  4^ 

but  unimpassioned  student.  He  calmly  notes 
coincidences,  and  balances  conflicting  state- 
ments, in  order  fairly  to  weigh  their  value, 
and  to  observe  how  far  they  tend  to  confirm 
or  to  invalidate  the  theories  propounded. 

After  all  his  labor,  he  perceives  that  the 
history  becomes  less  and  less  distinct,  as  the 
investigation  is  more  searching  and  precise. 
Every  new  publication  proves  that  its  author 
deems  former  explanations  to  be  faulty  or 
insuflScient,  and  his  refutation  of  previous 
solutions  is  usually  the  most  conclusive  por- 
tion of  his  work. 

The  student  is  reluctantly  compelled  to 
admit  that  the  materials  for  a  trustworthy 
life  of  Jesus,  and  for  a  truthful  history  of 
those  momentous  events,  do  not  exist,  while 
conjectural  histories  compiled  in  om*  own 
days  are  idle  dreams. 

These  commentaries  and  critical  disserta- 
tions have  not,  however,  been  tmprofitable. 
The  skepticism  of  a  former  age  has  been  re- 
futed by  the  criticism  of  a  later  period. 

The  imputation  of  forgery  and  fraud  made 


48  THE   OPEN   BIBLE. 

against  the  Evangelists  by  writers  in  the  last 
century  has  been  dispelled  by  a  more  careful 
study  of  the  Gospels. 

One  remarkable  characteristic  of  these 
books  is  the  simple  truthfulness  with  which 
the  Evangelists  record  the  traditions  therein 
collected,  even  when  those  traditions  are  un- 
favorable to  their  own  conclusions.  Thus 
they  relate  that  Jesus  met  wdth  little  belief 
or  estimation  among  his  own  kin,  and  in  his 
own  country.  Such  an  avowal  seems  hardly 
reconcilable  with  the  miracles  said  to  have 
accompanied  his  birth  and  baptism.  If  these 
supernatural  occurrences  did  not  convince 
his  own  kin,  the  subsequent  recital  of  them 
could  not  be  expected  to  satisfy  a  distant 
posterity. 

So,  again,  the  Evangelists  admit  that  the 
multitude  believed  John  the  Baptist  to  be  a 
prophet,  while  they  hesitated  to  acknowledge 
Jesus.  This  admission  disposes  of  the  reason- 
ing of  Paley  and  other  writers,  who  argue  that 
miracles  were  indispensable  as  the  credentials 
of  a  divine  mission. 


THE  OPEN   BIBLE.  49 

The  Evangelists  candidly  confess  that  the 
Apostles  whom  Jesns  had  selected  did  not 
implicitly  believe  in  him ;  they  did  not  under- 
stand his  doctrines,  they  doubted  his  power, 
and  they  deserted  him  on  the  first  approach 
of  danger. 

Yet  these  Apostles  belonged  to  a  race 
which  had  oftentimes  astonished  the  world 
by  its  courage  in  facing  torture  and  death 
under  the  impulse  of  religious  faith. 

Even  in  relating  the  great  miracle  of  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus,  the  two  earliest  Gospels 
close  their  narratives  with  expressions  of  doubt 
and  unbelief. 

Such  language  could  only  have  been  adopt- 
ed by  writers  conscientiously  anxious  to  re- 
late the  traditions  exactly  as  they  had  become 
current  among  the  first  disciples.  In  this 
respect  the  truthfulness  of  the  Evangelists 
ofi*ers  a  striking  contrast  to  the  conduct  of 
subsequent  ecclesiastical  historians. 

Christianity,  in  so  far  as  it  is  connected 
with  events  which  occurred  upon  the  earth, 
is   an  historical  religion,  and  must  rest  on 


50  THE  OPEN  BIBLE. 

human  testimony.  Experience  teaclies  ns  tliat 
tlie  human  memory,  unassisted  by  a  contem- 
poraneous written  record,  soon  corrupts  the 
impressions  of  past  events ;  and  this  observa- 
tion is  especially  applicable  to  recollections 
associated  with  religious  feeling. 

The  doctrine  that  the  Evangelists  were 
miraculously  exempted  from  the  effects  of 
human  infirmity  can  no  longer  be  maintained 
by  theologians,  who  also  explain  some  dis- 
crepancies in  the  Gospels  by  the  admission 
of  such  infirmity.  We  have  this  treasure  in 
earthen  vessels,  and  it  is  so  deeply  impressed 
with  the  imperfections  of  the  earth,  that  the 
restoration  of  the  actual  history  is  now  a 
hopeless  task. 


CHAPTEE  YIII. 

HISTORICAL     TRUTH. 

The  conditions  of  belief,  and  the  evidences 
which  are  deemed  sufficient  to  establish  credi- 
bility, have  varied  in  different  states  of  civili- 
zation, and  cannot  be  measured  by  any  known 
criterion.  It  has  been  frequently  observed 
that  the  arguments,  vs^hich  are  accepted  by  one 
generation  as  conclusive,  are  set  aside  in  a 
subsequent  age  as  feeble  and  unsatisfactory. 
The  forms  of  unbelief  also  change,  and  old 
difficulties  require  new  solutions. 

When,  however,  we  pass  on  from  the  first 
mysterious  history,  and  survey  the  great  re- 
sults, we  see  the  divine  and  beneficent  in- 
fluence of  Christianity  impressed  in  indelible 
characters  on  the  annals  of  the  world. 

The  words  said  to  have  been  spoken  by 


52  HISTORICAL   TRUTH. 

Jesus  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  on  the  slope 
of  the  mountain,  or  in  his  journejings  through 
Palestine,  fermented  in  the  human  heart,  stir- 
ring the  deepest  feelings  and  kindling  the 
aspirations  of  mankind.  These  words  were 
addressed  to  ignorant  men,  by  whom  their 
meaning  was  often  misunderstood  and  im- 
perfectly recorded.  The  words  were  spoken, 
however,  as  never  man  spake,  and  they  were 
sufficient  for  the  purpose  predicted. 

They  did  undoubtedly  convulse  the  world, 
and  change  the  whole  fabric  of  human  society, 
supplying  a  new  basis  for  civilization,  a  new 
framework  for  human  thought,  and  a  new 
motive  for  human  actions. 

The  history  of  all  succeeding  centuries  tes- 
tifies to  these  marvellous  results.  The  over- 
throw of  antecedent  religions  was  the  first 
step  to  a  new  creation,  and,  amid  the  decay 
of  ancient  creeds  and  the  decline  of  heathen 
communities,  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  era  red- 
dened the  horizon. 

During  the  darkest  period  of  European 
history,  the  organization  of  the  Church  held 


HISTORICAL  TEUTH.  53 

men  together  when  all  other  bonds  of  society 
were  loosened,  and  in  every  subsequent  age 
Christianity,  though  corrupted  by  human  er- 
ror and  distorted  by  human  passions,  has, 
nevertheless,  afforded  the  only  solid  security 
for  the  permanence  of  European  civilization, 
and  the  only  hope  for  man  after  the  close  of 
his  ephemeral  existence. 

Thoughts  thus  crowded  into  a  few  sen- 
tences necessarily  convey  a  very  inadequate 
notion  of  the  blessings  derived  from  Chris- 
tianity. If  a  person  tries  to  imagine  the 
condition  of  this  country  under  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  Christian  religion  had  never 
been  bestowed  upon  mankind,  he  will  find  it 
almost  impossible  to  realize  in  his  mind  the 
altered  circumstances  by  which  he  would  be 
surrounded. 

The  character  of  the  nation,  the  laws,  the 
institutions,  the  whole  mind  of  the  people 
would  have  been  more  changed  than  the 
wildest  fancy  can  conceive. 

The  early  history  of  Christianity  may  be 
in  many  respects  inaccurate,  exaggerated  by 


54  HISTORICAL  TRUTH. 

credulous  devotion,  and  even  falsified  by  le- 
gendary traditions  ;  but  some  divine  and  in- 
defeasible truths  must  be  contained  within  its 
doctrines.  These  could  not  have  lived  through 
so  many  centuries,  and  spread  through  such 
various  forms  of  civilization,  if  they  had  not 
their  undying  roots  in  the  heart  of  man. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    SEARCH    FOR    DOCTRINES. 

When,  however,  it  is  asked,  "What  were  the 
doctrines  which  produced  these  inestimable 
benefits  ?  the  reply  would  probably  vary 
according  to  the  chui'ch  or  sect  which  under- 
took to  answer  the  question.  Two  prominent 
and  generally-acknowledged  tenets  of  Chris- 
tianity are,  faith  in  God  and  charity  between 
men.  Beyond  these  two,  there  is  scarcely 
another  tenet  which  is  not  matter  of  contro- 
versy. 

The  history  of  Christianity  is  a  history  of 
heresies  and  schisms.  From  the  day  when 
the  disciples  left  that  upper  chamber  in  Jeru- 
salem to  the  present  hour,  Christians  have 
never  been  of  one  accord. 

A  student,  who  seeks  patiently  to  ascertain 


0      56  THE   SEARCH  FOR  DOCTRINES. 

from  the  first  Christian  teachers  the  precise 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  directs  liis  attention 
to  St.  Paul,  as  the  first  theologian,  the  first 
human  instructor  of  the  new  religion. 

Here,  it  is  often  repeated,  we  meet  a  man 
of  like  passions  with  ourselves ;  we  leave  the 
enchanted  ground  of  the  Gospel  narratives, 
and  tread  again  upon  the  accustomed  earth. 

At  the  outset  of  this  inquiry,  the  question 
presents  itself,  Are  these  epistles  the  genuine 
writings  of  St.  Paul?  Into  this  examination 
it  is  not  proposed  to  enter.  The  Pauline 
theology  rests  upon  the  Pauline  Epistles. 
The  most  captious  critics  have  admitted  that 
the  four  chief  epistles  are  genuine.  These 
would  suffice  to  establish  the  principles  of  the 
Pauline  doctrine.  The  only  epistle  which  is 
rejected  by  a  concurrence  of  opinions  is  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

In  an  impartial  investigation  of  St.  Paul's 
doctrines,  it  is  desirable  to  rely  on  the  general 
character  and  spirit  of  his  writings,  rather 
than  on  any  single  passage  or  selected  text.    • 

Another  difficulty  arises  from   our  igno- 


THE  SEARCH  FOR  DOCTRINES.  57 

ranee  of  tlie  order  in  which  the  Pauline  Epis- 
tles were  written.  It  has  been  often  observed 
that  this  knowledge  would  be  of  great  value, 
and  assist  in  removing  obscurities  which  are 
as  yet  impenetrable. 

St.  Paul  did  not  apparently  write  for  the 
purpose  of  instructing  future  generations. 
His  epistles  were  evidently  intended  to  meet 
temporary  difficulties,  and  to  correct  errors 
of  doctrine  or  of  conduct  in  the  congregations 
to  whom  they  were  addressed. 

The  Apostle  looked  forward  to  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  if  not  within  his  own  life- 
time, at  least  before  many  years  would  pass 
away.  The  boundless  prospect  of  future 
Christianity  was  never  opened  to  his  sight, 
and  he  did  not  contemplate  a  distant  pos- 
terity seeking  religious  instruction  from  let- 
ters addressed  to  Jewish  proselytes. 

For  the  sake  of  judging  these  epistles 
fairly  and  comprehending  their  purport,  it 
would  be  desirable,  so  far  as  possible,  to  read 
them  by  the  light  in  which  they  were  written, 
and  also  to  know  something  of  the  intellectual 


58  THE  SEARCH  FOR  DOCTRINES. 

condition  of  the  persons  to  wliom  tliey  were 
addressed. 

Thronghont  these  writings  Paul  appears 
as  the  Jewish  scribe,  bringing  forth  from  his 
treasure  things  new  and  old.  His  education 
and  modes  of  thought  were  Jewish  or  Eastern. 
His  acquaintance  with  Greek  literature  seems 
limited  to  such  citations  and  proverbial  phrases 
as  may  have  been  current  in  the  maritime 
cities  of  Asia.  His  epistles  exhibit  no  famil- 
iarity with  Greek  philosophy,  or  with  the 
style  and  culture  of  the  Greek  mind. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  previous 
education  of  St.  Paul,  it  is  manifest  that  the 
persons  to  whom  he  addressed  his  epistles 
must  have  been  trained  under  a  similar  sys- 
tem of  instruction.  They  must  have  belonged 
to  the  same  school  of  thought ;  otherwise  they 
would  not  have  appreciated  his  peculiar  style 
of  reasoning,  his  fanciful  philosophy,  and  his 
allegorical  interpretations  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures. 

During  the  interval  of  more  than  four 
hundred  years  which  elapsed  between  the  Old 


THE  SEARCH  FOR  DOCTRINES.  59 

and  tlie  'New  Testaments,  important  changes 
had  occurred  in  the  religious  condition  of  the 
Hebrew  race.  This  long  period,  although 
productive  of  effects  which  have  modified  the 
history  of  mankind,  is  not  commemorated  by 
any  inspired  writers  whom  Protestants  ac- 
knowledge, and  is  too  often,  therefore,  lost  in 
the  oblivion  of  ages. 

In  the  course  of  these  forgotten  centuries 
numerous  communities  of  Jews  had  spread 
themselves  throughout  the  chief  cities  of  the 
Eoman  Empire.  New  forms  of  religious 
thought  were  more  readily  accepted  by  men 
who  had  been  long  separated  and  estranged 
from  their  holy  city,  and  from  their  ancestral 
language.  Among  many  causes  which  tended 
to  modify  the  religion  of  the  Greek  Jews,  the 
three  following  deserve  to  be  specially  noticed : 

The  Septuagint  version  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  Apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

The  influence  of  the  synagogues. 


CHAPTEE  X. 


THE    SEP  TUAGINT. 


The  influence  of  language  upon  religion, 
and  the  extent  to  which  words  have  indirectly 
modified  human  beliefs,  have  been  frequently 
noticed. 

The  translation  of  Hebrew  expressions  into 
Greek  could  not  be  made  without  in  some  de- 
gree altering  the  full  meaning  of  the  original 
language. 

The  Hebrew  text  was  regarded  by  the  Jews 
as  possessing  a  sanctity  and  divine  vigor  un- 
approachable in  a  Greek  version.  This  superi- 
ority is  acknowledged  in  the  prologue  to  the 
book  of  Ecclesiasticus,  as  well  as  in  the  works 
of  Josephus. 

The  tradition  connected  with  the  orgin  of 
the  Septuagint  proves  the  veneration  it  had 


THE  SEPTUAGINT.  gl 

obtained  among  the  Greek  Jews,  and  persons 
who  believed  in  this  legend  would  have  deemed 
it  impions  to  question  the  accnracy  of  a  version 
composed  under  such  supernatural  guidance. 

Critics  free  from  this  superstitious  restraint 
observe  in  the  Septuagint  many  indications  of 
an  endeavor  to  adapt  the  narratives  of  Script- 
ure to  a  later  form  of  religious  thought.  Thus 
the  interposition  of  angels  is  substituted  for 
the  immediate  intervention  of  the  Deity,  who 
recedes  from  that  familiarity  with  man  which 
appears  in  the  Hebrew  text.  On  this  account 
it  has  been  said  that  the  Septuagint  rational- 
izes. 

The  importance  of  this  version  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  frequent  use  made  of  it  in 
the  Jt^ew  Testament,  and  it  is  not  imreasonable 
to  infer  that  the  Evangelists  had  a  closer  con- 
nection with  the  Greek  Jews  than  with  their 
Hebrew  countrymen. 

Christianity  seems  soon  after  its  birth  to 
have  become  a  Greek  religion ;  its  records  were 
almost  entirely  written  in  Greek ;  and,  while 
the  employment  of  a  foreign  language  may 


62  THE  SEPTUAGINT. 

have  alienated  the  inhabitants  of  Judaea,  it 
must  have  conciliated  the  favor  of  Jews  and 
proselytes  in  the  Greek  cities  of  Asia  and  of 
Europe. 

A  severance  from  the  language  of  their 
ancestral  religion  facilitated  further  change. 
An  analogous  effect  resulted  from  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scripture  in  modern  Europe.  "  It 
is  a  most  significant  circumstance,"  said  Ma- 
caulay,  "  that  no  large  society,  of  which  the 
tongue  is  not  Teutonic,  has  ever  turned  Prot- 
estant, and  that,  wherever  a  language  derived 
from  that  of  ancient  Home  is  spoken,  the 
religion  of  modern  Home  to  this  day  pre- 
vails." 

The  form  and  force  of  expressions,  even  the 
gender  of  nouns,  have  qualified  the  beliefs  of 
mankind.  The  word  spirit,  for  instance,  in 
its  passage  from  Jerusalem  to  Home,  changed 
its  gender  more  than  once.  Feminine  in  He- 
brew, it  became  neuter  in  Greek,  and  again 
masculine  in  Latin.  It  may  be  reasonably 
doubted  whether,  if  the  Latin  term  had  been 
female,  the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity  would 


THE  SEPTUAGINT.  gg 

have  occupied  their  present  positions  in  the 
religions  thought  of  Christians. 

The  word  person  has  also  acquired  a  more 
definite  entity  and  inflexible  meaning  than  its 
Greek  equivalent,  and,  though  this  may  not 
have  modified  our  creeds,  it  has  certainly 
influenced  popular  notions  of  the  Divine 
nature. 

If  it  is  admitted  that  the  transition  from 
Greek  to  Latin,  and  again  from  Latin  to  the 
Teutonic  languages,  have  tended  impercepti- 
bly to  qualify  theological  doctrines,  a  some- 
what similar  result  may  be  suspected  to  have 
occurred  under  the  influence  of  the  Septua- 
gint.  Eastern  ideas  altered  their  nature 
when  they  weai'e  clothed  in  a  Greek  garb. 
There  is,  however,  great  difficulty  in  attaining 
accurate  knowledge  on  this  subject,  because 
the  translation  of  a  word  often  fails  to  convey 
the  meaning  of  the  original  term.  For  ex- 
ample, the  words  baptism,  regeneration,  son 
of  man,  son  of  God,  did  not  originate  witli 
Christianity ;  nevertheless,  these  words,  when 
appropriated  by  Christians,  assumed  a  mean- 


g4  THE  SEPTUAGINT. 

ing  differing  in  many  respects  from  their  pre- 
vious Jewish  signification.  It  is  almost  im- 
possible to  measure  exactly  the  shades  of  dif- 
ference, but  we  must  not  hastily  assume  that, 
where  the  same  terms  were  used,  the  same 
ideas  were  intended  to  be  expressed. 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

THE   THEOLOGY   OF   THE    APOCRYPHA. 

A  Peotestaitt,  who  lias  been  taught  that 
the  Apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  of  little  value,  is  surprised  to  find  that 
these  books  contain  the  first  distinct  indica- 
tions of  the  legendary  beliefs,  and  of  the  re- 
ligious philosophy,  which  were  subsequently 
incorporated  in  Christian  theology. 

Whoever  wishes  to  study  the  history  of 
religious  thought,  must  devote  his  attention 
to  these  interesting  writings,  which,  beyond 
their  intrinsic  merit,  are  of  great  importance, 
inasmuch  as  they  mark  a  movement  of  the 
human  mind  from  Judaism  toward  Chris- 
tianity. 

For  instance,  the  immortality  of  man  is 
announced  in  this  rejected  Apocrypha  more 


QQ       THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  APOCRYPHA. 

clearly  tlian  in  any  book  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

Here  also  the  antagonism  between  matter 
and  spirit,  the  impurity  of  the  whole  material 
world,  and  the  evil  influence  of  the  corrupt- 
ible body  upon  the  human  soul,  are  pro- 
claimed as  unquestionable  truths. 

The  evil  spirit,  who  scarcely  appears  in 
the  Old  Testament,  or  is  only  mentioned  as  a 
subordinate  agent  of  the  Deity  employed  to 
test  the  virtue  of  the  righteous,  occupies  in 
the  Apocrypha  a  prominent  position — at  one 
time  as  the  subject  of  a  popular  legend,  and 
at  another  as  the  subtle  enemy  of  man,  whose 
death  is  attributed  to  the  envy  of  the  devil. 

A  still  more  astonishing  revelation  is  made 
in  the  Apocrypha  respecting  the  impersona- 
tion of  wisdom. 

This  mysterious  personification  is  alluded 
to  in  other  books,  but  in  the  Book  of  Wisdom 
an  ideal  heavenly  being  is  delineated  in  terms, 
which  inspired  writers  did  not  hesitate  to  bor- 
row, and  to  apply  to  Christ. 

Great  perplexity  has  been  caused  by  the 


THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  APOCRYPHA.       67 

language  of  this  Apocryphal  author,  of  whom 
nothing  is  known. 

The  book  assumes  to  have  been  written  by 
Solomon — a  fiction  which,  if  ever  believed, 
has  long' since  been  discarded.  It  was  at  one 
time  suspected  of  having  been  fraudulently 
composed  during  the  Christian  era ;  this  opin- 
ion is  now  no  longer  maintained. 

In  this  mysterious  book,  Wisdom  is  called 
the  brightness  of  the  everlasting  light,  the 
unspotted  mirror  of  the  power  of  God,  and 
the  image  of  His  goodness.  This  wisdom 
enters  into  the  righteous  man,  who  is  then 
called  the  Son  of  God.  Furthermore,  it  is 
stated  that  the  righteous  man  is  derided,  ex- 
amined with  .despitefulness  and  tortui-e,  and 
condemned  to  a  shameful  death,  while  the 
ungodly  say.  Let  us  see  if  his  words  be  true ; 
if  the  just  man  be  the  Son  of  God,  He  will 
help  him  and  deliver  him  from  the  hands  of 
his  enemies.  These  sentences  contain  a  pre- 
sentiment of  Christian  history  more  lucidly 
pronounced  than  can  be  found  in  the  Hebrew 
prophets. 


68   THE  THEOLOGY  OF  THE  APOCRYPHA. 

Other  Apocryplial  books  tend  to  prove 
that,  durino:  the  four  liimdred  vears  which  in- 
tervened  between  Malachi  and  Matthew,  the 
Jewish  mind  had  not  been  stationary,  but 
had  qualified  ancient  Scriptures  by  new  in- 
terpretations. This  process  had  been  greatly 
accelerated  by  intercourse  with  the  Greek 
race.  Several  of  the  Apocryphal  books  seem 
to  have  been  first  written  in  Greek,  and,  al- 
though their  style  may  be  criticised  as  too 
rhetorical,  yet  in  vigor  and  devotional  elo- 
quence they  compare  advantageously  with 
the  Pauline  Epistles. 


CHAPTEK  XII. 

THE     SYl^AGOGUES. 

The  Greek  synagogues  niiist  have  exer- 
cised considerable  influence  in  modifying  the 
old  Hebrew  doctrines. 

Jews  scattered  throughout  the  chief  cities 
of  the  Roman  Empire  could  not  comply  with 
the  religion  of  Moses.  They  could  neither  con- 
form to  the  law  nor  understand  the  language 
in  which  it  was  written.  For  them,  the  syna- 
gogue had  become  a  substitute  for  the  Temple, 
and  the  scribe  had  superseded  the  priest. 

Every  synagogue,  moreover,  was  under  the 
control  of  chosen  elders — masters  in  Israel. 
Different  teachers,  or  expounders  of  Script- 
ure, unconsciously  or  designedly,  introduced  di- 
versity of  doctrine.  Pharisees  and  Sadducees, 
though  opposed  to  each  other  on  questions  of 


70  THE  SYNAGOGUES. 

fundamental  importance,  were  alike  admitted 
to  high  offices  in  the  Temple ;  it  may  therefore 
be  reasonably  conjectured  that  there  was  a 
similar  latitude  of  opinion  in  the  synagogues 
of  Alexandria  and  of  Rome. 

Some  ingenious  writers  have  endeavored 
to  trace  the  source  of  Christianity  to  the 
schools  and  sjmagogues  of  Alexandria.  They 
would  even  interpret  the  prophecy,  "  Out  of 
Egypt  have  I  called  my  son,"  in  a  mystic 
sense. 

Such  fanciful  notions  must  be  discarded ; 
but  the  forms  of  religious  thought  which  were 
current  among  the  Jews  of  Alexandria  were 
probably  not  unknown  to  their  countrymen 
in  Antioch  and  in  Eome.  A  departure  from 
the  old  creed  of  their  fathers,  an  increasing 
propensity  toward  allegorical  interpretations 
of  Scriptm-e,  and  an  inclination  to  amalgamate 
Eastern  beliefs  with  Greek  philosophy,  tended 
to  generate  a  vague  and  mystic  latitude  of 
thought  on  the  nature  of  the  Deity. 

Such  liberty  of  religious  opinion  must  have 
prevailed  among  the  Jews  who  concurred  in 


THE  SYNAGOGUES.  71 

sending  Philo  to  Rome  as  tlie  representative 
of  his  countrymen  on  a  question  connected 
with  the  Jewish  religion. 

This  diversity  of  doctrines  probably  fa- 
cilitated the  entrance  of  St.  Paul's  theology. 
He  found  the  harvest  ripe  for  the  sickle ;  and 
the  Greek  synagogues  were  the  fields  wherein 
he  was  specially  qualified  to  win  over  converts 
to  Christianity.  His  attachment  to  the  tradi- 
tions, his  frequent  reference  to  Jewish  Script- 
nres,  his  system  of  typical  interpretations, 
and  his  style  of  reasoning,  could  only  have 
been  efiective  among  men  who  had  been  pre- 
viously accustomed  to  hear  their  Scriptures 
allegorized,  and  who  heard  from  Paul  an  ex- 
position of  doctrines  not  unknown  in  their 
schools. 

We  cannot  now  asrcertain  what  were  the 
predominant  doctrines  in  the  synagogues  of 
the  dispersion,  but  there  are  grounds  for  sus- 
pecting that  the  space  travelled  over,  from 
the  Temple  to  the  Greek  synagogue,  was 
nearly  as  wide  as  from  the  synagogue  to  the 
Chui'ch. 


72  THE  SYNAGOGUES. 

The  three  subjects  here  so  concisely  no- 
ticed are  deserving  of  far  more  attention  than 
has  been  usually  accorded  to  them  in  the  in- 
troductions to  the  Pauline  theology. 

In  the  midst  of  more  pressing  questions, 
it  would  be  here  impossible  to  discuss  them 
satisfactorily. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   rmST   CHRISTIAN   CONTEOVEESY. 

"  After  tlie  way  wliicli  they  call  heresy, 
so  worship  I  the  God  of  my  fathers,"  said  St. 
Paul. 

Paul  was  the  first  heresiarch,  the  bold  in- 
novator, the  fierce  controversialist.  He  boast- 
ed of  his  contest  with  the  chief  Apostles,  to 
whom  he  would  not  give  way,  no,  not  for  an 
hour.  They  seemed,  he  says,  to  be  pillars,  or 
seemed  to  be  somewhat,  but  it  made  no  mat- 
ter to  him. 

These  chief  Apostles  offered  him  a  com- 
promise,  suggesting  that  they  should  teach 
the  Jews,  and  that  Paul  should  teach  his 
Christianity  to  the  Gentiles.  Subsequently, 
however,  when  Peter  came  to  Antioch,  an 
open  rupture    occurred   between   these  two 


^4:       TEE  FIRST   CHPJSTIAX  CONTROVERSY. 

Apostles.  Paul  withstood  Peter  to  liis  face, 
blaming  him  before  the  assembled  congrega- 
tion. So  violent  was  this  dissension,  and  so 
bitter  the  animosity  which  it  engendered,  that 
after  the  lapse  of  many  years  Paul  adverts  to 
it  with  unabated  rancor,  and  fixes  on  Peter, 
for  all  futurity,  the  grave  charge  of  dissimula- 
tion. 

Are  we  to  infer  from  the  statement  of  St. 
Paul  that  the  chief  Apostles  and  their  dis- 
ciples at  Jerusalem  had  been  teaching  and 
practising,  during  some  twenty  years,  an  im- 
perfect Christianity,  piecing  out,  it  has  been 
said,  Aaron's  old  garment  with  the  new 
cloth  ?  The  men  who  should  have  been  pillars 
of  Christ's  Church  were,  it  seems,  still  strict 
Jews,  diligently  attending  the  sacrifices  in  the 
Temple,  and  adhering  to  the  laws  and  customs 
of  Moses. 

The  hostility  to  St.  Paul  arose,  not  from 
hi«  acceptance  of  Christianity,  but  from  his 
repudiation  of  Judaism.  While  the  older 
Apostles  were  living  undisturbed  at  Jerusa- 
lem, combining  a  belief  in  Christ  with  a  daily 


THE  FIRST   CHRISTIAN  CONTROVERSY.       75 

observance  of  the  Jewish  law,  Paul  had 
broken  loose  from  the  law,  and  openly  pro- 
claimed that  its  obligations  even  for  the 
Hebrew  race  were  now  at  an  end,  that  the 
law  itself  was  a  miserable  bondage,  burden- 
some in  this  life,  and  useless  in  the  life  to 
come. 

This  conflict  lasted  apparently  throughout 
the  residue  of  St.  Paul's  life.  His  Epistles 
prove  the  hatred  of  his  adversaries,  and  the 
success  of  their  efforts.  They  impugned  his 
apostleship,  they  disparaged  his  doctrine,  and 
vilified  his  character.  They  sent  missionaries 
to  counteract  his  teaching.  They  rejoiced 
over  his  imprisonment,  and  added  affliction 
to  his  bonds. 

Thus  he  lived  to  see  the  defection  of  the 
churches  which  he  had  planted,  and  the  re- 
lapse to  a  Jewish  Christianity  of  the  adhe- 
rents whom  he  had  instructed.  "All  they 
which  are  in  Asia,"  he  complains,  "  be  turned 
away  from  me." 

This  apostasy  from  his  doctrine  appears 
to  have  been  prevalent  toward  the  close  of 


76       THE  FIRST  CHRISTIAN  CONTROVERSY. 

Lis  life,  wlien,  as  he  says,  "  tlie  time  of  my 
departure  is  at  hand." 

There  are,  moreover,  many  indications 
that,  after  the  Apostle's  earthly  career  was 
closed,  rival  Christians  reviled  his  memory, 
and  held  up  his  doctrine  to  scorn  and  reproba- 
tion. 

This  controversy  in  the  early  Church  ne- 
cessarily qualifies  our  belief  in  apostolic  in- 
spiration. Those  persons,  who  maintain  that 
the  Apostles  were  miraculously  endowed  with 
all  knowledge  essential  to  the  promulgation 
of  Christianity,  must  equally  deny  history 
and  controvert  Scripture.  The  Apostles 
were,  it  is  said,  men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves  ;  it  must  also  be  admitted  that  they 
were  men  of  like  limited  knowledge.  We 
see  in  their  vehemence  the  tongues  of  fire, 
but  we  look  in  vain  for  the  holy  inspiration. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

THE    HOEJE   PAULm^. 

Among  tlie  numerous  works  written  by 
tlie  clergy,  treating  of  tlie  life  and  of  tlie  doc- 
trines of  St.  Paul,  it  is  difficult  to  name  one 
wliicli  candidly  admits  the  striking  discrep- 
ancies between  tlie  Pauline  Epistles  and  tlie 
Acts.  ' 

The  Horse  Paulinse  of  Paley  will  serve  to 
prove  the  justice  of  this  observation ;  and,  as 
this  book  is  an  argumentative  treatise  ad- 
dressed to  the  calm  reason  of  the  Protestant 
reader,  it  is  fairly  open  to  the  criticism  which 
it  invites. 

Paley  assumes,  for  the  purpose  of  his  ar- 
gument, that  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and 
the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  were  accidentally  dis- 
covered in  an   old  Spanish  library,  and  he 


7'8  THE   HOR^    PAULINJ3 

then  proceeds  to  examine  and  compare  them, 
with  the  view  of  ascertaining  how  far  many 
insignificant  and  undesigned  coincidences  in 
each  work  prove  these  books  to  be  founded  on 
facts,  or  to  be,  as  he  says,  in  the  main  true. 
Of  course,  Paley  arrives  at  the  sound  ortho- 
dox conclusion  which  is  expected  from  an 
English  divine. 

If,  however,  later  critics,  pursuing  a  simi- 
lar system  of  inquiry,  have  arrived"  at  a  some- 
what different  conclusion,  they  cannot  fairly 
be  blamed  and  stigmatized  as  rationalists. 
The  question  at  issue  is,  Which  view  receives 
the  strongest  oonfirmation  from  the  docu- 
ments themselves  ? 

In  examining  these  portions  of  Scripture 
with  the  same  freedom  which  Paley  assumes, 
it  seems  reasonable  to  give  priority  to  the 
Epistles,  inasmuch  as  the  letters  of  a  trust- 
worthy man  are  better  evidence  of  his  ac- 
tions and  opinions  than  the  recollections  of 
a  biographer. 


CHAPTER  Xy. 

THE   EriSTLES    CONTRADICT   THE   ACTS. 

St.  Paul  attaclied,  apparently,  great  im- 
portance to  the  assertion  that  he  did  not  re- 
ceive his  Gospel  from  man,  but  by  revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ.  In  support  of  this  assertion, 
he  emphatically  states  that  he  conferred  not 
v/ith  flesh  and  blood,  nor  went  to  Jerusalem 
to  the  Apostles,  but  went  into  Arabia. 

After  three  years,  he  says,  he  went  to 
Jerusalem,  and  abode  with  Peter,  as  he  care- 
fully adds,  for  fifteen  days.  During  this  pe- 
riod he  only  saw  Peter  and  James. 

This  special  reference  to  dates  awakens  a 
suspicion  that  Paul's  Christian  doctrine  had 
been  ascribed  to  human  intervention,  and  that 
St.  Paul  was  intent  on  refuting  this  assertion. 

ITow,  this  assertion  is  distinctly  made  by 


80      THE  EPISTLES  COXTRADICT  THE  ACTS. 

the  author  of  the  Acts,  who  states  that  Paul, 
after  his  conversion,  received  his  baptism  and 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from  Ananias,  at 
Damascus.  This  book  further  adds  that  Paul, 
being  compelled  to  fly  from  Damascus,  came 
to  Jerusalem,  and  assayed  to  join  himself  to 
the  disciples,  but  they  -were  afraid  of  him. 
Barnabas,  however,  brought  Paul  to  the 
Apostles,  and  "  he  was  with  them  coming  in 
and  going  out  at  Jerusalem." 

In  order  to  connect  Paul  still  more  closely 
with  the  Apostles,  this  book  states  that  "  Paul 
showed  first  unto  them  of  Damascus  and 
Jerusalem,  and  throughout  all  the  coasts  of 
Judgea,  and  then  to  the  Gentiles." 

St.  Paul  explicitly  denies  this,  and  declares 
before  God  that,  after  the  fifteen  days  at 
Jerusalem,  he  came  into  the  regions  of  Syria 
and  Cilicia,  and  was  unknown  by  face  unto 
the  churches  of  Judasa. 

According  to  Paul's  Epistles,  seventeen 
years  had  elapsed  after  his  conversion  before 
he  had  any  intercourse  with  the  church  at 
Jerusalem. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

MOKE    DIFFICULTIES. 

As  tlie  history  proceeds,  tlie  inconsisten- 
cies and  contradictions  between  the  statements 
in  the  Epistles  and  in  the  Acts  become  more 
marked.  The  vision  seen  by  Peter,  the  de- 
cree of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  sub- 
sequent conduct  of  Peter  at  Antioch,  have 
perplexed  the  harmonists  of  these  conflicting 
narratives.  "When  Peter  came  to  Antioch,  he 
had  been  preaching  the  Gospel  for  a  period  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  years.  "What  GosxdcI  had 
he  preached  ?  Jesus  had,  it  is  said,  command- 
ed his  disciples  to  go  and  teach  all  nations. 
For  this  purpose  the  abolition  of  national  dis- 
tinctions, of  ceremonial  observances,  of  clean 
and  unclean  meats,  had  been  repeatedly  en- 
forced in  his  discourses,  and  copiously  illus- 


82  3iORE  DIFFICULTIES. 

trated  in  liis  parables.  Moreover,  this  teach- 
ing is  said  to  have  been  miraculously  recalled 
to  the  memory  of  the  Apostles. 

Locke  tried  to  explain  these  discrepancies, 
and  Paley,  after  admitting  that  Locke's  ex- 
planation was  unsatisfactory,  suggested  anoth- 
er which  is  even  more  objectionable. 

Peter  must  have  forgotten  the  teaching  of 
his  Divine  Master,  the  doctrine  inculcated  in 
his  own  vision,  and  the  decree  of  the  Church 
said  to  have  been  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Paul  also  must  have  been  ignorant  of  the 
precepts  of  Jesus,  which  would  have  sustained 
and  justified  the  Pauline  Gospel  more  effect- 
ually than  the  labored  arguments  in  his  Epis- 
tles. 

The  difficulties  of  such  suppositions  can 
only  be  removed  by  assuming  that  these  books 
are  not  free  from  human  error. 


CHAPTEE  XYII. 


Paul's  last  joueney  to  Jerusalem. 


AccoEDiNG  to  the  Pauline  Epistles,  St. 
Paul  had  written  elaborate  letters,  in  order  to 
prove  that  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  no  man 
could  be  justified,  that  henceforth  there  was 
no  difference  between  Jew  and  Gentile,  and 
that  the  law  was  altogether  superseded  and 
abrogated  by  faith  in  Christ.  This  is  fairly 
admitted  by  Paley  to  have  been  the  doctrine 
or  gospel  taught  by  St.  Paul. 

According  to  the  Acts,  Paul,  on  his  arrival 
at  Jerusalem,  in  compliance  with  the  sugges- 
tion of  James  and  of  the  elders,  consented  to 
exhibit  himself  as  a  strict  Jew. 

It  is  stated  that  he  joined  himself  to  cer- 
tain Jews  who  had  taken  vows,  and  that  Paul 
took,  or  pretended  to  have  taken,  a  similar 


84  PAUL'S  LAST  JOURNEY  TO  JERUSALEM. 

VOW,  attended  the  services,  joined  in  tlie  sacri- 
fices of  the  Temple,  and  purified  himself  un- 
der the  Jewish  law. 

Are  we,  then,  to  believe  that  Paul  was  a 
second  time  an  apostate  ?  Could  he  thus  have 
belied  his  own  gospel,  and  the  teaching  of  his 
whole  apostolic  life  ?  Paul  had  reprimanded 
Peter  and  Barnabas  for  their  dissimulation ; 
was  he  now  himself  a  dissembler  ? 

It  must  be  admitted  that  a  public  act, 
performed  with  the  design  of  conveying  false 
notions  of  his  religion,  had  morally  the  same 
guilt  as  a  falsehood  spoken  for  the  purpose  of 
deception.  Could  Paul  thus  have  returned  to 
the  beggarly  elements  which  he  had  so  scorn- 
fully repudiated  ? 

The  reader  is  shocked  at  the  conduct  here 
ascribed  in  the  Acts  to  St.  Paul.  If  he  turns 
to  the  Horse  Paulinae,  he  is  shocked  at  the 
defence  suggested  by  Paley.  This  apologist 
for  St.  Paul  admits  that  this  incident  in  the 
history  is  perplexing.  He  cannot  deny  that 
the  Apostle  had  proclaimed  the  abrogation  of 
the  law  even  for  Jews  themselves,  but  he 


PAUL'S  LAST  JOURNEY  TO  JERUSALEM.  85 

ventures  to  hint  that  Paul  complied  upon  this 
occasion  with  the  Jewish  law  from  a  love 
of  tranquillity,  or  an  unwillingness  to  give 
offence ! 

The  life  and  labors  of  the  Apostle  might 
have  exempted  him  from  such  an  imputation. 
Paul  had  declared  :  "  If  I  yet  pleased  men  I 
should  not  be  the  servant  of  Christ."  Paul 
had  struggled  through  perils  and  privations, 
undeterred  by  the  persecution  of  the  Jews, 
and  the  still  more  envenomed  hatred  of  rival 
Christians  ;  and  yet,  after  this  life  of  suffering, 
he  is  supposed  to  have  repudiated  the  distinc- 
tive principles  of  his  Gospel,  fi.*om  an  unwill- 
ingness to  give  offence. 

An  English  clergyman,  in  the  enjoyment 
of  a  lucrative  benefice,  with  a  pleasing  pros- 
pect of  promotion,  may  be  pardoned  if  he 
yields  some  of  his  opinions  for  the  sake  of 
tranquillity — but  he  should  not  measure  St. 
Paul  by  his  own  standard. 


CHAPTEE  XYIII. 

ST.    PAUL     AT    KOME. 

Biblical  critics  have  exercised  great  inge- 
nuity in  their  endeavors  to  reconcile  Paul's 
visit  to  Pome,  as  related  in  the  Acts,  with  the 
language  of  the  Pauline  Epistles,  without, 
however,  referring  to  other  difficulties;  the 
prominent  objection  to  the  narrative  in  the 
Acts  consists  in  its  incompatibility  with  the 
moral  character  and  truthfulness  of  St.  Paul. 

When  the  Apostle  visited  Pome,  he  had 
taught  his  doctrines  during  many  years  in 
Asia  and  in  Europe.  There  is  no  reason  for 
supposing  that  his  oral  teaching  differed 
from  his  written  instructions.  On  the  con- 
trary, there  are  good  grounds  for  believing 
that  all  his  sufferings  had  been  caused  by  his 
conscientious  sincerity. 


ST.   PAUL   AT   ROME.  g'? 

Paul,  as  is  manifest  from  his  Epistles,  had 
declared  that  the  law  of  Moses  afforded  no 
means  of  salvation,  that  its  obligations  had 
ceased  even  for  Jews,  and  that  the  old  reli- 
gion had  been  superseded  by  the  new  faith. 
He  had  even  said  of  the  Jewish  nation,  "  They 
please  not  God  and  are  contrary  to  all  men." 

N'evertheless,  if  we  are  to  beheve  the  Acts, 
Paul  on  his  arrival  at  Rome  calls  the  chief 
Jews  together,  and  commences  his  address 
by  saying  that  "  he  had  committed  nothing 
against  the  people  or  the  customs  of  their 
fathers." 

It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  the  writer 
of  the  Pauline  Epistles  could  have  made  that 
statement. 

Paul's  doctrine  was  incompatible  with  the 
customs  of  their  fathers,  and  was  directed  to 
the  subversion  of  the  Jewish  religion. 

The  conduct  ascribed  to  St.  Paul  is  indeed 
not  only  unworthy  of  an  Apostle,  but  it  is  ac- 
companied by  details  incomprehensible,  when 
considered  in  connection  with  his  whole  pre- 
vious life. 


88  ST.   PAUL   AT  ROME. 

These  Jews,  it  is  said,  knew  nothing  of 
Paul,  and  had  never  heard  of  Christianity, 
except  as  of  a  religion  "  everywhere  spoken 
against."  l^evertheless,  they  listened  to  Paul 
patiently  while  he  was  expounding  the  king- 
dom of  God  from  morning  until  evening.  At 
the  conclusion  of  his  discourse  some,  it  is  re- 
lated, believed,  and  some  believed  not.  This 
incomplete  success  so  far  offended  Paul  that 
he  denounced  his  auditory  in  vehement  invec- 
tives borrowed  from  the  Hebrew  prophets. 

Did  these  Jews  deserve  such  reprehen- 
sion ?  The  man  w^ho  addressed  them  was  a 
culprit,  awaiting  his  trial  as  a  turbulent  of- 
fender against  the  peace  of  Judsea.  The  doc- 
trines which  he  taught  had  been  condemned 
by  those  who  sat  in  Moses'  seat.  All  legit- 
imate presumptions  were  therefore  against 
Paul.  On  the  other  hand,  he  offered  them 
no  credentials  of  his  apostolic  authority  ; 
no  manifestations  of  that  glorious  kingdom, 
which  they,  in  common  with  their  country- 
men, expected  to  inaugurate  the  coming  of 
the  Son  of  David. 


ST.   PAUL   AT   EOME.  89 

Were  tliese  Jews  culpable  because  they 
preferred  to  abide  by  tlie  decision  of  tlie 
supreme  council  at  Jerusalem?  In  such  cir- 
cumstances some  hesitation  was  pardonable, 
and  of  all  living  men  Paul  was  the  last  who 
should  thus  have  condemned  his  countrymen. 

Did  no  painful  reminiscence  of  Stephen's 
fate  and  of  his  own  obduracy  recm^  to  Paul's 
memory,  and  suggest  some  forbearance  tow- 
ard men  whom  no  heavenly  voice  had  in- 
structed, and  whom  no  celestial  vision  had 
enlightened  ? 

Could  Paul  thus  have  accused  his  kinsmen 
of  blindness,  without  recalling  the  time  when 
the  scales  had  not  yet  fallen  from  his  own 
eyes,  and  when  he  himself  was  a  blasphemer 
and  a  persecutor  ? 

Assuredly  the  book  of  the  Acts  bears  false 
witness  against  a  Christian  Apostle. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

GAIklALIEL. 

The  moral  difficulty  arising  from  tlie  ac- 
ceptance of  tlie  Acts  as  an  accurate  history 
suggests  other  suspicions. 

In  the  Acts,  Paul  is  represented  saying 
that  he  was  brought  up  in  Jerusalem  at  the 
feet  of  Gamaliel.  In  the  Epistles,  Paul  boasts 
of  his  connection  with  the  Pharisees,  but  does 
not  mention  Gamaliel. 

According  to  the  Acts,  Gamaliel,  a  man 
learned  in  the  Jewish  law,  addressed  the  su- 
preme tribunal  on  a  question  of  law  wdiich 
was  then  of  momentous  import. 

The  law  of  Moses  allowed  no  toleration  of 
teachers  who  spoke  to  turn  the  people  from 
the  Lord  their  God.  No  worker  of  wonders, 
no  prophet,  although  his  words  might  come  to 


GAMALIEL.  91 

pass,  could  be  exempted  from  tlio  puiiisliment 
due  to  this  offence. 

The  law  was  of  divine  obligation,  it  was 
peremptory,  the  penalty  was  death.  The  ob- 
vious question  was,  whether  the  Apostles  had 
incurred  this  penalty?  Gamaliel,  however, 
altogether  evaded  this  question,  and,  in  lieu 
of  expounding  the  law,  he  offered  to  the 
council  arguments  which  contravened  the 
law. 

His  reasoning  afforded  a  defence  for  any 
heretical  teacher,  and  recalls  the  advice  found 
in  Herodotus :  "  o  rt  Set  fyevecrOai  e/c  rov  Oeov 
afjLTj'X^avov  aTrorpe-^ai  avOpcoTrco.''^ 

If  such  was  the  doctrine  of  Gamaliel,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  Paul  had  not  profited 
in  this  part  of  his  instructions.  As  a  Jewish 
zealot,  and  as  a  Christian  Apostle,  Paul  was 
equally  intolerant  of  any  doctrine  contrary  to 
his  own  belief.  He  did  not  even  exhibit  the 
qualified  leniency  which  Josephus  ascribes  to 
the  sect  of  the  Pharisees. 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

STEPHEN. 

The  speech  of  Gamaliel  is  perplexing,  as 
coming  from  a  man  learned  in  the  Jewish 
laWj  but  the  speech  of  Stephen  is  full  of  in- 
comprehensible anomalies. 

Stephen,  it  is  said,  was  a  man  practised 
in  argumentative  discussion,  and  unrivalled 
among  the  disputants  of  the  synagogues.  He 
had  the  opportunity  of  addressing  the  supreme 
council  in  defence  of  Christianity.  The  mo- 
ment was  peculiarly  favorable  for  such  an 
appeal.  Jerusalem,  it  is  stated,  was  crowded 
with  converts  and  adherents  of  the  new 
faith ;  not  only  the  uneducated  people,  but 
a  great  company  of  the  priests,  were  obedient 
to  the  faith.  An  eminent  member  of  the 
council  had  lately  advised  moderation  toward 


STEPHEN.  93 

this  new  sect.  Stephen  could  not  deny  the 
jurisdiction  of  men  who  sat  in  JMoses'-  seat ; 
and  the  reader  of  the  open  Bible  feels  confi- 
dent that,  before  such  a  tribunal,  the  vindica- 
tion of  Christianity  will  be  complete. 

In  all  subsequent  ages,  from  the  end  of  the 
first  century  to  the  present  hour,  the  advo- 
cates of  Christianity  have  appealed  to  the 
miracles  performed,  and  to  the  witnesses  who 
testified  to  these  divine  manifestations. 

Wlien  Stephen  addressed  the  council, 
these  witnesses  were  around  him.  Many 
who  were  then  sitting  in  judgment  must  have 
seen  the  portentous  signs  attending  the  cruci- 
fixion; the  darkened  sun  and  the  trembling 
earth;  the  bodies  of  the  saints  which  arose 
from  their  graves,  and  appeared  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem  ;  the  veil  of  the  Temple  miracu- 
lously rent  in  twain ;  the  supernatural  events 
more  recently  offered  for  their  conviction; 
the  bursting  of  the  prison-doors  and  the  re- 
lease of  the  Apostles.  These  were,  however, 
insignificant  proofs  of  divine  power  compared 
with  the  conclusive  miracle. 


94:  STEPHEN. 

Five  liundred  bretliren  could  now  have 
testified  tliat  they  had  themselves  seen  Jesus 
risen  from  the  dead :  a  fact  too  well  attested 
to  admit  of  any  doubt,  and  too  decisive  to  ad- 
mit of  any  refutation. 

These  topics,  which  have  for  eighteen 
hundred  years  furnished  arguments  in  de- 
fence of  Christianity,  were  neglected  while 
the  witnesses  were  yet  living. 

Stephen  did  not  even  explain  the  Gospel, 
which  it  is  said  he  had  expounded  in  the  syna- 
gogues with  such  irresistible  force. 

Instead  of  addressing  himself  to  the  ques- 
tions which  had  convulsed  Jewish  society, 
and  were  soon  to  turn  the  world  upside 
down,  he  rambles  over  the  migration  of 
Abraham,  and  the  familiar  histories  of  Joseph 
and  Moses.  When  it  might  have  been  ex- 
pected that  he  would  show  the  connection 
between  ancient  dispensations  and  recent 
events,  he  breaks  off  in  bitter  invectives,  ac- 
cuses the  council  of  transgressing  the  law, 
and  of  resisting  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Upon  the  not  unnatural  remonstrance  of 


STEPHEN.  95 

the  council,  his  ecstasy  commences,  and  he 
declares  that  the  divine  nature  of  Christ  was 
miraculously  revealed  to  him. 

The  disciples,  according  to  the  statement 
of  the  Evangelists,  had  a  promise  of  special 
assistance  whenever  they  should  be  summoned 
before  human  tribunals.  In  Stephen's  case, 
no  such  aid  seems  to  have  been  afforded. 
The  able  disputant  of  the  synagogues  neither 
justified  his  doctrine  by  the  law,  nor  did  he 
venture  to  assert  that  the  law  had  been  super- 
seded by  a  more  glorious  revelation.  In  ad- 
dressing the  Sanhedrim,  his  citations  from 
Scripture  should  have  been  derived  from  the 
Hebrew  text,  whereas  they  seem  to  have  been 
obtained  from  some  paraphrase  or  imperfect 
Targum. 

The  council  sat  in  Moses'  seat,  and  they 
were  acting  according  to  a  law  which  they 
believed  to  be  divine,  and  which  Stephen 
acknowledged.  His  anger  was  unjustifiable, 
and  his  vindication  of  Christianity  lamentably 
feeble. 

This  speech  has,  however,  the  character  of 
authenticity. 


96  STEPHEN. 

The  author  of  the  Acts,  if  he  had  not  ad- 
hered to  traditions,  conld  undoubtedly  have 
composed  a  more  effective  speech  in  defence 
of  Christianity. 

"Writing  with  the  acquired  knowledge  of 
a  later  age,  he  could  have  described  Stex^hen 
overwhelming  the  Sanhedrim  with  ancient 
prophecies  and  recent  miracles. 

This  speech,  moreover,  in  its  concluding 
words,  indicates  that  the  first  martyr  was  in 
advance  of  the  Apostles. 

Stephen  was  put  to  death,  probably  in  a 
tumultuous  outbreak;  many  disciples  fled, 
but  the  Apostles,  it  is  said,  remained  at  Je- 
rusalem, frequenting  the  Temple  daily,  and 
probably  joining  in  the  sacrifices. 

The  undisturbed  residence  of  the  Apostles 
at  Jerusalem,  after  the  death  of  Stephen, 
seems  to  countenance  an  opinion,  suggested 
by  some  learned  critics,  that  the  Apostles  did 
not  altogether  adopt  Stephen's  view  of  Christi- 
anity. The  fragments  of  history  which  we  pos- 
sess indicate  that  the  Primitive  Church  at  Jeru- 
salem remained  under  the  bondage  of  the  law. 


STEPHEN.  9Y 

The  transition  from  Judaism  to  Chris- 
tianity was  a  more  gradual  development  of 
religious  thought  than  is  commonly  supposed. 

Stephen's  vision  was  a  prophetic  anticipa- 
tion of  future  Christianity.  It  was  the  germ 
of  a  new  faith ;  the  immature  embryo  of  a 
belief  which  was  destined  to  subdue  the  civil- 
ized world. 

5 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

LEGENDARY     HISTOEY. 

St.  Paul's  description  of  tlie  gift  of  tongues 
directly  refutes  the  statement  in  the  Acts. 
This  contradiction  produces  an  irresistible 
impression  that  the  Epistles  record  the  actual 
occurrence,  while  the  Acts  commemorate  the 
legendary  tradition.  This  discrepancy  casts 
additional  doubt  upon  other  portions  of  the 
book. 

Paley  observes  that,  in  the  Epistles,  Paul 
expresses  the  affectionate  feelings,  the  limited 
knowledge,  and  the  restricted  power  belong- 
ing to  man;  he  regrets  the  illness  of  one 
friend  whom  he  is  obliged  to  leave  sick  in  the 
midst  of  a  journey,  and  he  gratefully  rejoices 
over  the  recovery  of  another,  the  issue  of 
whose  illness  he  could  not  foresee. 


LEGENDARY  HISTORY.  99 

In  order  to  reconcile  this  language  with 
the  marvellous  cures  recorded  in  the  Acts, 
Paley  intimates  that  the  Apostles  had  not  at 
all  times  the  power  of  working  miracles,  nor 
even  the  means  of  obtaining  that  power. 

Paley  is  forced  into  this  suj^position  by 
his  desire  to  uphold  a  legendary  history  ;  but, 
if  the  book  of  the  Acts  is  to  be  believed,  a 
handkerchief  or  an  apron  sent  from  Paul 
would  at  once  have  healed  Epaphroditus, 
and  restored  him  both  to  his  duties  and  to 
his  friend. 

These  legends  furnished  a  scriptural  sanc- 
tion for  the  relics  and  miraculous  amulets  of 
subsequent  centuries.  The  careful  study  of 
the  Pauline  Epistles  leads  to  the  rejection  of 
these  fanciful  or  exaggerated  narratives. 


CHAPTEE  XXIL 


A  EAY   OF  LIGHT. 


Chkistianity  was  preaclied  and  promul- 
gated by  men  struggling,  amid  poverty  and 
affliction,  against  contempt  and  persecution. 
Bj  their  self-devotion,  their  untiring  zeal, 
their  patience,  and  their  faith,  they  con- 
strained an  unwilling  world  at  first  to  listen, 
and  at  last  to  believe. 

Their  mission  was  not  a  march  of  tri- 
umph, where  astonished  and  obsequious  mul- 
titudes thronged  around  them  to  share  their 
marvellous  gifts,  and  to  witness  their  super- 
natural powers. 

In  the  Acts  these  legendary  wonders  may 
be  seen,  but  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul  present  a 
less  miraculous  though  more  truthful  picture. 
His  ministry  appears  as  a  continued  martyr- 


A   RAY  OF  LIGHT.  IQl 

dom.  He  refers  to  sufferings  and  imprison- 
ments, wliicli  no  miracles  had  intervened  to 
mitigate.  'No  prison-gates  fly  open  to  release 
liim ;  no  jailer  falls  as  a  supplicant  at  liis 
feet ;  no  magistrates  humbly  beseech  him  to 
depart.  For  him  ]N"ature  did  not  suspend  her 
course.  Roman  governors  did  not  tremble  at 
his  "presence.  The  days  of  Ambrose  and  of 
Hildebrand  had  not  yet  arrived. 

In  weariness  and  in  painfulness  Paul  pur- 
sues his  way,  sustained  only  by  the  unfalter- 
ing faith  which  animated  his  whole  existence  : 
"  The  Lord,"  he  says,  "  stood  by  me,  and 
strengthened  me." 

The  book  of  the  Acts  cannot  be  received 
as  an  accurate  history  of  the  events  which  it 
records.  When  Paley  argues  that  it  appears 
to  be  "  in  the  main  "  true,  the  question  may 
be  answered  accordino;  to  the  meaning*  at- 
tached  to  these  words. 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  au- 
thor or  compiler  of  the  Acts  had  collected 
many  traditions  relating  to  St.  Paul.  These 
traditions  were  fluctuating  and  uncertain  ;  if 


102  ^  P^^Y   O^F  LIGHT. 

we  may  judge  from  tlic  three  narratives  of 
the  Apostle's  conversion — since  these  are  all 
found  to  differ  in  some  details. 

Learned  critics  have  suggested  that  the 
object  of  this  book  was  to  effect  a  compro- 
mise between  the  two  divergent  doctrines, 
and  to  reconcile  the  followers  of  Paul  with 
the  Judaizing  Christians. 

With  such  a  view,  the  author  would  omit 
the  dissension  between  these  Apostles,  and  he 
would  endeavor  to  assimilate  their  doctrines 
and  their  powers,  representing  one  Apostle  as 
the  counterpart  of  the  other. 

There  are  several  objections  to  the  adop- 
tion of  this  solution,  which  need  not  here  be 
discussed. 

The  reader,  who  has  carefully  considered 
the  contradictions  between  the  statements  in 
the  Acts  and  the  language  in  the  Epistles,  is 
irresistibly  impressed  with  a  suspicion  that, 
if  we  now  possessed  a  similar  authentic  cri- 
terion, by  which  to  test  the  narratives  in  the 
Gospels,  our  opinion  of  those  books  would  be 
qualified,  while  our  knowledge  would  be  more 
complete. 


CHAPTEE  XXIII. 

THE     PAULINE     THEOLOGY. 

"  Ex  diviuorum  et  liumanorum  male  sana  admixtione  non 
solum  educitur  pliilosopliia  pha'ntastica,  sed  etiam  religio 
liceretica." 

Locke  observes  in  tlie  preface  to  Ms  para- 
phrase of  the  Pauline  Epistles,  "We  may 
still  see  in  this  day  how  every  man's  philoso- 
phy regulates  his  interpretation  of  the  word 
of  God." 

In  the  Jewish  mind  religion  and  philoso- 
phy were  indissolubly  blended.  The  Hebrew 
Scriptures  were  supposed  to  contain  a  vast 
scheme  of  recondite  philosophy,  which  could 
be  unfolded  by  learned  men  under  the  assist- 
ance of  Divine  favor.  This  philosophy  colors 
the  apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  had  apparently  imbued  the  traditions  of 


104:  T^E  PAULINE   THEOLOGY. 

tlie  Jewish  schools.  On  this  subject  the  state- 
ments of  Josephns  must  be  received  with  cau- 
tion, inasmuch  as  he  wished  to  give  to  Jewish 
beliefs  the  complexion  of  Greek  philosophy. 

St.  Paul  had,  as  he  states,  profited  in  the 
religion  of  the  Jews ;  his  frafne  of  mind  was 
moulded  in  the  schools  of  the  Pharisees,  and 
he  was  zealous  of  the  traditions. 

A  man  can  never  entirely  divest  himself 
of  the  forms  of  thought  and  of  feeling  which 
belong  to  his  age  and  country.  Paul's  Chris- 
tianity did  not  release  him  from  his  Jewish  pre- 
possessions; and  his  philosophy  is  so  inter- 
mixed with  his  religious  doctrine,  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  accept  his  theology  with- 
out also  accepting  his  philosophy  as  divine. 


CHAPTEE  XXIY. 

THE   PAULINE   PHILOSOPHY. 

The  Eastern  pliilosopliy  wliicli  liacl,  during 
some  centuries  preceding  tlie  Christian  era, 
insinuated  itself  into  the  Jewish  mind,  pre- 
tended to  solve  problems  left  in  obscurity  by 
the  earlier  Hebrew  Scriptures. 

Among  these  the  origin  of  evil  was  pro- 
pounded as  the  basis  of  a  philosophical  reli- 
gion. Matter,  which  included  the  whole  ter- 
restrial and  animal  world,  was  from  its  nature 
evil,  and  was  opposed  to  spirit,  which  was 
beneficient,  pure,  and  celestial.  These  two 
antagonist  principles  were  thought  to  explain 
the  anomalies  of  the  visible  world,  and  to  un- 
riddle the  perplexities  of  human  existence. 

St.  Paul  was  not  careful  in  his  use  of 
words,  as  will  be  shown  more  fully  hereafter. 


106  THE  PAULINE   rillLOSOPHY. 

and  this  indistinctness  confuses  his  philoso- 
phy, but  it  seems  that  he  had  adopted  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Apocryphal  Scripture  as  an  un- 
deniable truth.  He  taught  that  the  material 
world  animate  and  inanimate  was  alike  im- 
pure, and  under  the  dominion  of  an  evil  prin- 
ciple. The  whole  creation,  he  said,  groaneth 
and  travaileth  in  pain  ;  it  is  subject  to  Satan, 
who  is  the  god  of  this  world,  the  prince  of 
the  power  of  the  air,  the  enemy  of  man,  and 
the  adversary  of  Christ. 

In  immediate  connection  with  this  scheme 
of  religious  philosophy,  Paul  had  also  adopted 
a  theory  concerning  the  nature  of  man. 

The  English  language  has  no  equivalent 
words  to  express  the  subdivision  of  man's 
nature  as  represented  in  the  Pauline  Epistles. 
The  Greek  language  might  have  furnished  the 
means  of  expressing  these  qualities,  but  Paul 
does  not  carefully  attend  to  the  distinction 
which  he  indicates.  The  system  is  necessarily 
rendered  more  obscure  by  this  want  of  pre- 
cision. 

Man's  nature  is  said  to  consist  of— 


THE  PAULINE   PHILOSOPHY.  I07 

The  body  or  the  flesh,  acofia. 

The  animating  principle  of  earthly  life, 

The  intellect  or  nnclerstanding,  vov^. 

The  spirit  or  divine  principle,  irvevfia. 

According  to  this  philosophy,  the  body 
and  the  animating  principle  of  the  body  were 
altogether  evil,  sensual,  and  subject  to  the 
devil. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  spirit  is  not  invari- 
ably pure  and  holy ;  because  there  are  unclean 
and  wicked  spirits.  The  same  word  is  used 
for  the  heavenly  and  for  the  devilish  spirit. 

This  system  of  philosophy  constitutes  the 
basis  of  the  Pauline  theology.  On  this  is 
founded  the  displeasure  of  the  Deity,  the  ne- 
cessity of  redemption,  and  the  mystery  of  the 
atonement. 

It  becomes  daily  more  difficult  to  admit 
that,  while  the  basis  is  composed  of  human 
materials,  the  superstructure  is  altogether  di- 
vine. 

*'  ITe  decipiamur  per  inanem  philosopliiain." 


CHAPTEE  XXY. 

EIYAL    CEEEDS. 

This  system  of  i^liilosopliy  was  Dot  war- 
ranted by  tlie  religion  of  Moses.  It  was  ob- 
viously incompatible  with  tlie  doctrine  of 
temporal  rewards  and  punishments.  A  creed 
which  assigned  earthly  happiness  as  the  rec- 
ompense of  piety,  could  not  also  teach  that 
earthly  felicities  were  altogether  impure.  The 
Deity  could  not  be  divided  against  Himself, 
or  bestow  upon  the  righteous  those  rewards 
which  were  the  chief  ingredients  of  sin. 

We  may  reasonably  doubt  whether  Jesus 
taught  his  disciples  that  this  Eastern  philoso- 
phy was  a  divine  truth.  He  did  not  appar- 
ently say  of  little  children,  the  unbaptized 
infants,  that  they  were  inherently  vicious,  and 
unfit  for  heaven.    Again,  the  beautiful  prayer 


RIVAL   CEEEDS.  109 

wbicli  is  associated  with  liis  name  says,  in 
simple  words,  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation;" 
thus  leaving  no  place  for  the  evil  spirit,  and 
depriving  the  tempter  of  his  traditional  em- 
ployment. 

St.  Paul  could  not  escape  from  the  end- 
less inconsistencies  arising  from  a  theological 
philosophy,  which  controverted  the  Hebrew 
Scriptm-es.  Thus,  while  at  one  time  he  de- 
scribes the  devil  as  the  god  of  this  world,  he 
elsewhere  asserts  that  the  earth  is  the  Lord's 
and  the  fulness  thereof.  So  he  writes  to  the 
Ephesians,  "  God  is  above  you  all,  and  through 
you  all,  and  in  you  all ; "  while  he  tells  the 
Eomans,  "In  the  flesh  dwelleth  no  good 
thing."  Here  the  Apostle  seems  to  have  felt 
the  contradiction,  and  therefore  adds,  "Ye 
are  not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit." 

This  qualification  creates  a  new  confusion, 
since  Paul  elsewhere  speaks  of  himself  as 
abiding  in  the  flesh,  meaning  thereby,  living 
on  the  earth,  without  including  the  secondary 
sisrnification  of  the  word  flesh. 

The  whole  religious  instruction,  and  even 


IIQ  RIVAL   CilEEDS. 

the  moral  precepts  of  St.  Paul,  were  distorted 
by  the  incongruous  combination  of  tlie  Mosaic 
law  with  Eastern  philosophy. 

He  promises,  for  instance,  that  women  who 
continue  in  faith  and  charity  shall  be  saved 
in  child-bearing;  since,  however,  he  rep- 
resents this  world  as  a  prison,  from  which  it 
is  better  to  depart,  the  promise  appears  to  be 
an  unsatisfactory  recompense. 

Again,  when  the  Apostle  censures  the  con- 
duct of  evil-doers  at  Corinth,  and  adds,  "  For 
this  cause  many  are  weak  and  sickly  among 
you,  and  many  sleep,"  this  language  refers 
to  the  Jewish  law,  the  beggarly  elements, 
from  which  he  could  not  liberate  his  mind. 


CHAPTER  XXYL 

MODEKN"     CONCLUSIONS. 

The  pliilosopliy  of  St.  Paul,  resx^ecting  tlie 
inlierent  wickedness  of  the  material  world, 
and  tlie  associated  belief  in  the  impersona- 
tion of  evil,  have  now  passed  away,  together 
with  the  popular  legends  of  diabolic  posses- 
sion. 

The  devil  and  his  works  have  been  re- 
nounced in  a  more  peremptory  manner  than 
even  the  Catechism  requires. 

The  most  orthodox  divine  would  not  now 
propose  to  put  Satan  into  the  Christian  creed ; 
yet,  a  belief  in  the  personal  existence  and 
continued  agency  of  Satan  is  the  necessary 
preliminary  for  theological  doctrines. 

In  modern  literature,  the  personification 
of  evil  is  a  figurative  mode  of  speech,  equally 


112  MODERN  CONCLUSIONS. 

applicable  to  other  metaphorical  existences, 
as,  for  instance,  to  love,  or  wisdom,  or  death. 
Ancient  nations  gave  to  these  and  other 
personifications  a  vivid  reality,  which,  to  our 
minds,  is  almost  incomprehensible.  Examples 
of  such  beliefs,  in  classical  authors,  will  occur 
to  every  scholar.  Christian  writers,  indeed, 
often  taunted  the  pagans  with  such  supersti- 
tions : 

"  Desine,  si  pudor  est,  Gentilis  ineptia,  tandem 
Ees  incorporeas  simulatis  fingere  membris." 

These  writers  did  not  perceive  the  beam 
which  obscured  their  own  eyesight,  while 
they  were  pointing  with  scorn  at  the  deified 
abstractions  of  heathen  idolatry. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  neither  the 
Gospel  legends  nor  the  Pauline  philosophy 
afford  any  assistance  in  solving  the  difficulty 
of  reconciling  the  existence  of  evil  with  a 
beneficent  and  all-powerful  Deity. 

There  is,  on  this  subject,  a  passage  cited, 
it  is  said,  from  the  works  of  Athanasius,  which 
deserves  attention : 


MODERN  CONCLUSIONS.  113 

"It  is  an  heresy  to  attribute  a  real  nature 
and  essence  to  evil ;  for  tliose  wlio  hold  this 
doctrine  must  either  believe  that  God  is  the 
maker  and  cause  of  evil,  or  else  they  must 
suppose  that  evil  hath  a  nature  and  entity  of 
itself  independent  of  God.  Whereas  it  is 
equally  untrue  that  any  thing  exists  of  which 
God  is  not  the  cause,  and  also  that  He,  who 
is  the  essence  of  all  goodness,  should  be  the 
creator  of  evil." 

This  opinion,  again,  although  it  is  said  to 
originate  from  a  saint,  might  lead  to  a 'dan- 
gerous heresy  :  since  the  assertion  that  evil 
hath  no  real  nature  and  essence  might  induce 
a  belief  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  evil ; 
a  theory  which  undermines  the  foundation  of 
all  morality. 

This  theory  was  maintained  by  Soame 
Jenyns,  and  ably  criticised  by  Dr.  Johnson, 
in  an  essay,  which  will  repay  the  peru- 
sal. 

After  wandering  through  this  maze  of 
legend,  of  philosophy,  of  history,  and  of  criti- 
cism, relating  to  the  source  of  evil,  to  the 


114  MODERN  COXCLUSIOXS. 

devil  and  his  works — tlie  conclusion  is,  that 
all  these  doctrines  belong  to  the  imaginations 
of  men,  and  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  word  of 
God. 

Yade,  Satana. 


CHAPTER  XXYII. 

ST.  Paul's  style  of  writing. 

Precision  of  speech  is  essential  to  accurate 
reasoning :  it  becomes  far  more  important 
when  a  sentence  has  the  authority  of  law,  but 
its  value  is  immeasurably  enhanced  when  the 
expression  claims  to  be  received  as  the  word 
of  God. 

The  doctrines  announced  by  St.  Paul  are 
unfortunately  obscured  and  confused  by  the 
indistinctness  of  his  language.  The  Apostle 
employs  the  same  word  in  a  variety  of  senses, 
so  that  his  meaning  can  only  be  conjectured 
from  the  context. 

Thus,  the  words  life,  death,  body,  flesh, 
spirit,  heaven,  law,  faith,  charity,  and  many 
others,  have  no  fixed  sis^nification   attached 


116  ST.   PAUL'S   STYLE   OF  WRITING. 

to  tliem.  The  Apostle,  nevertheless,  Imrries 
along  in  his  argument,  without  noticing  that 
the  word  has  acquired  a  new  meaning,  and 
is  no  longer  an  equivalent  for  the  previous 
thought. 

There  is  scarcely  a  single  passage  in  the 
Pauline  Epistles,  or  a  single  doctrine  in  the 
Pauline  theology,  which  is  not  darkened  or 
embroiled  by  the  ambiguity  of  the  expres- 
sions. 

Let  the  reader  reflect  for  a  moment  on 
the  word  '^  body :  "  what  scenes  of  mental 
and  physical  torture  does  that  word  recall ! 
Modern  society  turns  away  with  feelings  of 
humiliation  and  disgust  from  the  perusal  of 
cruelties  which  Catholics  and  Protestants  did 
not  hesitate  to  inflict  on  one  another,  for  a 
supposed  misunderstanding  of  that  equivocal 
word. 

The  echo  of  the  old  controversy  may  in- 
deed still  be  heard  in  the  same  Gothic  aisles 
where  it  resounded  long  ago,  while  brave  old 
Latimer  was  lighting  that  candle  which,  with 
God's  help,  will  never  be  put  out. 


ST.   PAUL'S  STYLE   OF   WRITING.  II7 

St.  Paul  could  not  have  foreseen  tlie  liu- 
man  suffering  which  has  resulted  from  his 
careless  use  of  that  deadly  word  ;  and  it  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  any  divine  or  merciful 
influence  guided  his  pen. 

Tlie  Apostle  had  a  difficulty  to  contend 
with  for  which,  if  he  were  a  mere  human 
teacher,  great  allowance  should  be  made. 
The  Greek  language,  though  unequalled  in 
power  and  pliability  of  phrase,  had  not  as  yet 
been  adapted  to  convey  the  mystic  tenets  of 
the  Pauline  theology.  A  new  science  re- 
quires a  new  vocabulary,  and  during  this 
period  of  infancy  the  Christian  creed  could 
only  stutter  in  the  language  of  a  heathen 
race. 

Many  examples  of  this  imperfection  could 
be  cited.  The  word  charity  may  suffice. 
This  Christian  virtue  is  rendered  in  Greek  by 
two  different  words,  but  neither  of  the  two 
can  fully  express  the  comprehensive  meaning- 
attached  by  Christians  to  the  word  charity. 
The  notion  of  charity  had  not  yet  been  nat- 
uralized in  human  language. 


118  ST.   PAUL'S  STYLE   OF   WRITI^s'G. 

The  carelessness  with  which  St.  Paul  in- 
troduces citations  from  the  Jewish  Scriptures 
increases  the  perplexity  of  his  writings.  This 
inaccuracy  is  the  more  inexplicable,  because 
he  occasionally  rests  his  argument  on  the  let- 
ter of  the  text  cited.  The  Pauline  Epistles 
introduce  passages  of  Scripture  so  heedlessly 
intermixed  that  the  learned  Lightfoot  could 
only  explain  the  Apostle's  citations  by  saying : 
"  It  is  no  rare  thing  but  the  common  usage  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  to  vary  from  the  original  in 
the  recital  of  passages  well  enough  known  be- 
fore." 

To  modern  readers,  Lightfoot's  explana- 
tion appears  irreverent,  and  they  would  rather 
ascribe  such  inaccuracies  to  human  infirmity 
than  to  divine  usage. 

Every  Christian  sect  is  still  embarrassed 
by  the  confusion  arising  from  St.  Paul's  style. 
Our  creeds  and  formularies  are  based,  indeed, 
the  whole  scheme  of  Christian  theology  rests, 
on  the  belief  that  a  holy  effluence  not  only 
modulated  the  tone  of  the  Apostle's  mind,  but 
guarded   his  pen  from  error,  and   tempered 


ST.   PAUL'S  STYLE   OF  WRITING.  ng 

every  word  to  be  the  exact  dictation  of  in- 
spired truth. 

This  doctrine  can  no  longer  be  maintained 
by  any  educated  Protestant,  and  it  becomes 
daily  more  difficult  to  uphold  a  structure  of 
which  the  foundations  have  been  undermined. 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 

THE    PAULINE    ALLEGOEIES. 

"  Qui  talia  legit, 
Quid  didicit  tandem,  quid  scit,  nisi  somnia,  nugas?" 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  allegory  as  a  vehicle  for  reli- 
gions thought.  The  several  gradations  from 
tj^pical  actions  to  figurative  expressions,  and 
to  metaphorical  language,  may  be  traced  in 
many  parts  of  Scripture.  Inward  emotions 
can  only  find  utterance  in  metaphorical 
phrases,  and  the  words  employed  to  glorify 
the  attributes  of  the  Deity  were  necessarily 
typical. 

Many  allegorical  interpretations  of  the 
older  creed  are  found  in  the  Septuagint  ver- 
sion. The  Apocryphal  books  also  furnish  ex- 
amples  of  the  mode  in   which  the  Divine 


THE  PAULINE  ALLEGORIES.  121 

Word,  like  the  manna  of  tlie  wilderness,  could 
thus  content  every  man's  delight,  and  temper 
itself  to  every  man's  liking. 

This  system  of  interpretation  had  become 
a  special  study  in  the  Jewish  schools.  The 
verbal  sanctity  of  the  holy  volume  was  here- 
by preserved,  while  its  texture  was  made  to 
reflect  a  thousand  lights,  according  to  the  in- 
genuity of  the  teacher  or  the  requirements  of 
the  age. 

The  extent  to  which  some,  at  least,  of  the 
Jewish  synagogues  had  departed  from  tlie 
literal  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures 
may  be  conjectured  from  the  writings  of 
Philo.  This  author  retained  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  his  countrymen,  although  he 
treated  their  sacred  history  as  a  collection  of 
typical  narratives,  valuable  only  in  illustrat- 
ing allegorical  views  of  religious  truth. 

The  synagogues,  to  whom  Paul  addressed 
his  Epistles,  must  have  been  imbued  with 
similar  notions,  otherwise  Paul's  fantastic 
transformations  would  have  shocked  their  de- 
votional feelings. 


122      THE  PAULINE  ALLEGORIES. 

Abraham,  Paul  writes,  had  two  sons — the 
one  by  a  bondmaid,  the  other  by  a  freewom- 
an ;  he  who  was  of  a  bondswoman  was  born 
of  the  flesh,  but  he  of  the  freewoman  was  by 
promise :  which  things,  Paul  adds,  are  an  alle- 
gory (or  are  allegorized),  for  these  are  the  two 
covenants ;  the  one  from  Mount  Sinai,  which 
gendereth  to  bondage — which  is  Agar,  for  this 
Agar  is  Mount  Sinai,  in  Arabia,  and  an- 
swereth  to  Jerusalem  which  now  is. 

It  seems  needless  to  cite  further  from  this 
allegory  where  a  woman  typifies  a  mountain, 
and  the  mountain  typifies  a  town,  and  the  town 
typifies  a  divine  covenant.  After  all  this  con- 
fusion of  types,  the  allegory  fails,  as  commen- 
tators remark,  in  the  very  point  which  it  was 
adduced  to  illustrate  ;  since,  according  to 
Scripture,  the  son  of  the  bondswoman  and 
his  posterity  were  free  from  the  law,  whereas 
Isaac's  descendants — the  children  of  promise 
— ^became  the  slaves  of  the  law. 

Philo,  it  has  been  observed,  indulges  in  an 
allegory  very  similar  to  St.  Paul's.  He  repre- 
sents Hagar,  the  bondmaid,  as  the  type  of 


THE  PAULINE  ALLEGORIES.      12S 

worldl}^  wisdom,  whom  the  Patriarch  aban- 
dons for  Sarah,  the  emblem  of  heavenly 
knowledge. 

The  fancifnl  allusions  of  Philo  may  be  re- 
jected as  Jewish  fables.  Are  Protestants  ex- 
pected to  receive  Paul's  allegories  as  tlie  word 
of  God? 

Again,  in  writing  to  convince  the  Church 
of  Corinth  that  pastors  are  entitled  to  support 
from  their  congregations,  Paul  cites  from  the 
law,  "  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox,"  and 
then  asks,  "  Doth  God  care  for  oxen  ?  " 
Here  the  Apostle  discards  the  literal  sense  as 
unworthy  of  the  Deity,  and  by  parity  of  rea- 
soning (if  reason  can  be  applied  to  such  writ- 
ings) he  overthrows  a  large  portion  of  the 
Mosaic  law.'-^ 

The  Scriptural  prohibition  against  plough- 
ing with  an  ox  and  an  ass  together,  was 
probably  in  the  recollection  of  Paul  when  he 

*  Cicero,  in  Ms  book  De  natura  Deoi-um,  argues  in  a  simi- 
lar manner  that  God  could  not  have  made  the  world  except  for 
man :  Cujusnam  causa  tantarum  rerum  molitio  facta  sit :  arbo- 
rum  et  herbarum?  at  id  quidem  absurdum  est.  An  bestia- 
rum  ?  nihilo  probabilius,  deos  mutarum  et  nihil  intelligentium 
causa  tantum  laborasse. 


124  THE  PAULINE  ALLEGORIES. 

wrote,  "Be  ye  not  uneqijallj  yoked  together 
with  unbelievers." 

These  typical  interpretations  of  Scripture 
must  suggest  to  every  thoughtful  reader  the 
change  which  had  come  over  the  Jewish  mind 
in  regard  to  their  holy  volume. 

Could  Paul  have  held  the  Scripture  to  be, 
according  to  the  modern  meaning,  the  Word 
of  God,  while  he  thus  distorted  its  obvious 
sense  ?  These  questions  awaken  consideration. 
Another  and  far  more  momentous  question 
presents  itself,  when  we  perceive  that  Paul  did 
not  hesitate  to  apply  these  allegories  to  Christ 
himself 

Even  in  this  early  age  of  the  Church,  wild 
notions  were  broached  respecting  the  earthly 
life  of  Jesus,  his  corporeal  reality,  and  the 
resurrection.  Heretics  moved  curious  ques- 
tions, or,  as  Bacon  says,  made  strange  anato- 
mies of  the  nature  and  person  of  Christ. 

At  such  a  time,  therefore,  careful  precision 
of  thought,  and  studied  propriety  of  language, 
might  have  been  expected  from  an  Apostle. 
Paul  must  have  been  anxious  to  conjBrm  the 


THE  PAULINE  ALLEGORIES.  125 

new  converts  in  tlieir  beliefs,  and  to  check  the 
propagation  of  error.  Nevertheless,  his  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  tells  them,  "  Our  fathers 
did  all  eat  the  same  s]3iritual  meat,  and  did 
all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink;  for  they 
drank  of  that  rock  which  followed  them,  and 
that  rock  was  Christ." 

All  commentators  admit  that  there  was 
a  rabbinical  legend  of  the  rock,  which  had 
been  struck  by  Moses,  following  the  Israel- 
ites, and  thus  affording  them  a  perennial 
supply  of  water  in  their  passage  through  the 
desert. 

To  blend  and  confuse  the  holy  name  of 
Christ  with  a  fable  tended  necessarily  to  de- 
stroy all  certainty  of  his  existence,  unless  some 
further  explanation  was  annexed. 

The  allusion  was  indeed  j)erilous,  when 
it  is  remembered  that  there  was  an  ideal 
logos,  a  metaphysical  abstraction,  which 
Paul  thus  rashly  identified  with  the  Lord 
Jesus. 

This  allegory  becomes  again  more  incom- 
prehensible when  it  is  observed  that  the  doc- 


126  THE  PAULINE  ALLEGORIES. 

trine  of  the  preexistence  of  Jesus  was  thus 
announced  to  the  Corinthians,  in  connection 
with  a  fabled  phantom  of  the  desert. 

It  appears  as  if  the  Apostle  had  been  fas- 
cinated by  the  typical  resemblance  between 
an  old  Jewish  legend  and  the  vivid  conception 
of  Christ,  ever  present  to  his  mind.  The 
moving  rock  seemed  to  him  equally  true  with 
the  recent  history  of  Jesus.  The  ideal  and 
the  real  were  not  distinguishable;  both  were 
spectral  forms  vividly  impressed  on  his  imagi- 
nation. They  were  accepted  as  spiritual  or 
internal  truths,  outweighing  all  the  visible 
and  material  realities  around  him. 

A  modern  reader  cannot  comprehend  a 
mental  condition  in  wliich  two  notions  so 
entirely  different  could  be  identified  as  one 
and  the  same.  Eeligious  thought  assumes 
different  forms  in  various -minds,  and  changes 
its  shape  as  seen  through  the  atmosphere  of 
an  enthusiastic  imagination. 

Meanwhile,  Protestants,  searching  for  defi- 
nite doctrines  and  liistorical  facts,  cannot 
allow  these  legends  of  the  Jewish  schools,  and 


THE  TAULINE   ALLEGORIES.  127 

fictions  of  rabbinical  tradition,  to  usurp  tlie 
position  and  tlie  authority  of  the  oracles  of 
God. 

"  Insomnia  vana  valete." 


CHAPTEE  XXIX. 

PEEDESTDTATION. 

St.  Paul  boasts  of  liis  connection  with 
the  sect  of  the  Pharisees.  He  could  not  have 
heard  the  traditions  of  the  Divine  censure  of 
this  sect,  or  he  would  have  qualified  this  self- 
laudation  and  the  pride  of  liis  educational 
trainino-. 

The  Pharisees,  according  to  Josephus,  be- 
lieved in  fate  or  predestination ;  but  not  so 
entirely  as  to  preclude  free-will  in  men,  or  to 
nullify  the  use  of  prayer  for  Divine  interven- 
tion. 

This  statement  proves  that  the  Pharisees 
did  not  know  w^hat  to  believe  on  this  inex- 
plicable subject. 

St.  Paul,  so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  his 
Epistles,  had   not  more   knowledge  in  this 


PREDESTINATION.  129 

matter  than  otlier  Pharisees.  He,  however, 
reproduces  their  philosophy  and  gives  to  their 
inconsistent  theories  his  apostolic  sanction. 
Thus  at  one  time  he  cites  the  metaphorical 
illustration  of  the  potter  and  his  clay,  justifies 
a  capricious  selection,  and  says  that  he  him- 
self was  chosen  from  his  birth  for  his  ap- 
pointed task.  At  another  time  he  proclaims, 
"  glory,  honor,  and  peace,  to  every  man  that 
worketh  good,  for  there  is  no  respect  of  per- 
sons with  God." 

The  traditions  of  Jewish  history  favored 
the  belief  in  a  capricious  selection.  The 
Jews  were  proud  of  being  the  chosen  people, 
and  from  Abraham  downward,  selection,  even 
in  some  cases  before  birth,  had  been  the  sup- 
posed system  of  Divine  government. 

The  spirit  and  principles  of  Christianity 
lead  to  an  opposite  conclusion.  The  language 
of  Jesus  seems  also  to  have  refuted  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  Jews,  and  depreciated  their 
boasted  descent  from  Abraham. 

The  doctrine  of  election,  however,  flatters 
spiritual  pride,  and  enables  a  certain  class  of 


130  PREDESTINATION. 

Cliristians  to  look  down  on  tlieir  brethren 
with  contemptuous  commiseration ;  on  this 
accomit  the  doctrine  is  mnch  cherished. 

The  moral  influence  of  belief  in  predes- 
tination would  be  pernicions,  if  speculative 
beliefs  always  governed  human  conduct ;  but 
experience  warrants  us  in  saying  that  men 
who  profess  a  belief  in  predestination  are  nei- 
ther better  nor  worse  than  their  neighbors. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    SACEIFICE. 

"  Keceptum  ferme  ubique  ut  humano  sanguine 
Dii  placarentur." — Grotius  de  relig. 

"  It  is  blood  wliicli  maketli  an  atonement 
for  the  soul." 

"Without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no 
remission." 

Thus  Leviticus  had  pronounced,  and  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  echoed  the  sanguinary 
sentence. 

St.  Paul  sanctioned  the  same  doctrine, 
connecting  it  with  the  crucifixion. 

Yet  it  would  seem  that  a  more  beneficent 
doctrine  had  been  proclaimed  by  a  higher 
authority.  Obedience  had  been  preferred  to 
sacrifice ;  and  Jesus  was  reported  to  have 


132  THE  SACRIFICE. 

said,  "  Go  ye  and  learn  what  that  meaneth,  I 
will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice." 

Are  we  to  believe  that  these  words  were 
spoken  at  a  time  when  the  most  appalling 
sacrifice  was  immediately  required  ?  Is  this 
the  doctrine  of  the  Cross  ?  How  can  it  be 
said  that  the  fl.esh  profits  nothing,  when  we 
are  equally  taught  that  the  flesh  profited 
every  thing  ? 

This  mysterious  subject  awakens  deej)  re- 
flection. Man  is  the  creature  of  the  past, 
and  he  cannot  release  himself  from  the  in- 
herited conditions  of  his  nature.  Every  word 
in  human  language  has  its  pedigree ;  every 
thought  in  the  human  mind  has  its  parentage. 
When  man's  religious  feelings  are  excited, 
his  imagination  unconsciously  reverts  to  an- 
tecedent impressions  of  superstitious  terror. 
Forms  of  belief  that  had  died  away  rise  up 
again  in  shadowy  similitude,  and  haunt  his 
mind  with  visions  of  an  angry  God  demand- 
ing, from  the  feeble,  half-reasoning  beings 
whom  He  has  created,  an  atonement  for  their 
imperfections. 


THE   SACRIFICE.  I33 

Is  tliis  doctrine  a  Divine  mystery  ?  May 
it  not  be  a  relic  of  idolatry,  raked  out  of  tlie 
embers  of  an  extingnished  creed,  and  igno- 
rantly  raised  on  high  in  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Christian  God  ? 

According  to  the  Pauline  theology,  man, 
by  his  descent  from  Adam,  had  incurred  the 
penalty  of  eternal  death  ;  but,  by  the  sacrifice 
of  Jesus,  man  was  released  from  this  penalty, 
on  condition  of  his  believing  in  Jesus. 

At  the  period  when  Paul  proclaimed  this 
doctrine,  many  disciples  were  still  living  who 
had  accompanied  Jesus  in  his  wanderings, 
following  him  day  by  day  to  listen  to  his  holy 
words,  to  imbibe,  if  possible,  something  of  his 
divine  thoughts,  to  watch  the  sublime  devo- 
tion of  his  life,  to  weep  over  his  -agonizing 
death.  "Wliat  must  these  disciples  have  felt 
when  they  beheld  Paul,  the  Pharisee,  re- 
joicing over  that  death,  expressing  no  con- 
trition for  the  share  which  the  Pharisees  had 
in  the  crucifixion,  and  shedding  no  tear  on 
the  page  which  recorded  the  sufferings  of 
Jesus  ? 


13J:  THE   SACRIFICE. 

• 

From  his  Epistles  it  appears  that  St.  Paul 
was  a  man  of  warm  feelings  and  of  affection- 
ate disposition ;  but  liis  whole  nature  was  so 
absorbed  in  the  heavenly  Christ,  that  he  had 
lost  all  recollection  of  the  earthly  Jesus. 
Paul  seems  to  admit  this  when  he  writes : 
"  Though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the 
flesh,  yet  henceforth  know  we  him  no  more." 

It  is  manifest  from  passages  already  cited 
that  the  real  Jesus  had  in  Paul's  mind  been 
identified  with  the  ideal  conception  of  Philo's 
school ;  or  perhaps  Paul  and  Philo  both  de- 
rived their  doctrines  from  antecedent  writers, 
of  whose  philosophy  some  samples  have  been 
preserved  in  the  Apocryphal  books. 

As  St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  two  Adams,  so 
Philo  writes :  "  The  generation  of  man  is 
twofold,  one  celestial  the  other  terrestrial. 
The  terrestrial  man  consists  of  particles  of 
matter  called  earth  ;  the  celestial  man-is  made 
in  the  likeness  of  God,  and  is  free  from  all 
earthly  and  corruptible  nature." 

Here  the  Apostle  found  the  doctrine  of 
the  Jewish  schools  accomplished  in  the  person 


THE  SACRIFICE.  I35 

of  Christ.  The  terrestrial  man  had  perished 
on  the  cross  in  a  merciful  sacrifice ;  while,  by 
resurrection  from  the  dead,  Christ,  the  first 
celestial  man,  was  now  acknowledged  as  the 
Son  of  God. 

Thus  Paul  perceived  that  the  instruction 
of  his  early  years  was  reconciled  with  tlie 
creed  of  his  maturer  age.  The  real  and  the 
ideal  beings  were  identified.  An  avenue  now 
opened  to  the  Apostle's  sight,  leading  to  im- 
mortality. 

The  union  of  the  Divine  with  the  human 
nature  had  in  Eastern  religions  been  fre- 
quently typified  as  a  marriage.  The  whole 
community  of  Christians  constituted  the 
bride  with  whom  Christ  would  be  now  joined, 
and  they  would  be  united  in  immortality. 
This,  the  Apostle  adds,  is  the  great  mystery. 

It  is  impossible  here  to  separate  ancient 
beliefs  from  the  mysterious  doctrines  of  a 
later  theology,  or  to  declare  with  confidence 
how  far  the  religious  teaching  of  St.  Paul  had 
been  biassed  by  Eastern  philosophies.  He 
was  the  Jewish  scribe  bringing  forth  from  his 


l^Q  THE   SACrJFICE. 

treasure  things  new  and  old,  and  regarded  the 
old  and  the  new  as  equally  divine. 

All  these  things,  it  is  said,  should  be  re- 
ceived in  faith ;  and  to  faith,  therefore,  we 
must  now  turn. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

FATTH. 

"  Primus  est  Deorum  cultus  Deos  credere."— Seneoa. 

Faith  is  the  elementary  principle  of  all 
religions.  In  tliis  general  sense  faith  has  been 
defined  a  vivid  impression  of  the  supernatu- 
ral, or  an  unhesitating  reliance  founded  on 
implicit  belief  in  some  Divine  power. 

The  definition  of  faith  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  "  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen," 
is  frequently  cited  as  a  Divine  explanation  of 
faith.  This  definition  is  not,  however,  of 
apostolic  origin,  since  it  is  also  found  in  Phi- 
lo's  life  of  Moses,  where  it  is  mentioned  as  an 
old  Hebrew  saying.  Such  an  interpretation 
of  the  word  faith  has  therefore  no  special 
claim  to  our  acceptance,  and  its  vagueness 


138  FAITH. 

would  obviously  allow  a  large  margin  for 
liuman  credulity. 

Faith,  although  it  is  the  eternal  source  of 
all  religious  feeling,  has  not  any  necessary 
connection  with  moral  virtue.  Fanatic  assas- 
sins and  sensual  idolaters  have  displayed  a 
faith  unsurpassed  by  Christian  saints.  An 
equally  vehement  faith  oftentimes  inflamed 
the  persecutor  with  zeal,  and  armed  the  mar- 
tjr  with  endurance. 

Saul  the  Hebrew  zealot,  breathing  forth 
threatenings  and  slaughter,  was  impressed 
with  a  faith  as  strong  as  Paul  the  Apostle. 
He  would  have  suffered  for  the  law  and  the 
traditions  all  that  he  afterward  suffered  for 
the  sake  of  Christ. 

It  is  perplexing  to  find  that  the  Jews  are 
censured  in  the  Gospels  for  want  of  faith. 
Yf  hatever  may  have  been  their  defects  of  char- 
acter, their  history,  during  the  two  centuries 
preceding  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  exhib- 
its their  fidelity  and  attachment  to  their  an- 
cestral religion. 

They  believed  in  the  sanctity  of  their  law, 


FAITH.  139 

in  the  literal  predictions  of  their  prophets,  in 
the  future  advent  of  a  Messiah,  and  in  the 
glorious  destiny  of  their  race.  Their  intense 
belief  occasioned  the  calamitous  revolts  and 
fatal  wars  in  which  they  were  often  engaged. 

Hence  followed  the  ruin  of  their  holy  city, 
and  the  final  extinction  of  their  nationality. 
The  Jewish  nation  perished  a  martyr  to  its 
inflexible  faith. 

Yet  these  men  are  accused  of  want  of  faith  ! 
The  various  explanations  offered  on  this  sub- 
ject are  unsatisfactory.  Martyrdom  is  usu- 
ally accepted  as  a  test  of  faith,  and  the  He- 
brew race  offered  up  their  lives  for  their 
religion. 

Moreover,  the  disbelief  of  the  Jews  in 
Jesus  was  indispensable  to  the  scheme  of  the 
atonement.  This  observation  suggests  end- 
less difficulties,  but  they  lead  far  away  from 
the  more  immediate  subject  of  inquiry. 

These  forms  of  faith,  heathen  and  Jewish, 
do  not  represent  the  Christian  faith  insisted 
upon  in  the  Pauline  Epistles.  St.  Paul's  lan- 
guage is,  as  usual,  deficient  in  precision,  and 


140  FAITH. 

the  example  which  he  adduces  does  not  assist 
in  elucidating  his  meaning. 

Sometimes  he  uses  faith  in  the  simple 
sense  of  belief.  Sometimes  faith  means  obe- 
dience to  the  Divine  will.  Sometimes  the 
word  signifies  the  Christian  religion  in  the 
sense  which  he  attached  to  Christianity. 

Again,  faith  is  a  Divine  grace,  given  only 
to  Christians ;  while,  in  other  passages,  faith 
has  a  more  mysterious  sense,  and  must  be 
interpreted  to  mean  a  spiritual  union  with 
Christ. 

Faith,  in  the  Pauline  theology,  is  the 
centre  round  which  the  whole  system  re- 
volves, and  by  which  it  is  held  together. 
The  Protestant,  therefore,  endeavors  to  find 
some  comprehensive  signification  of  this  mys- 
terious word,  which  will  contain  the  various 
meanings  alluded  to  in  the  Epistles  of  St. 
Paul. 

St.  Paul  cites,  as  an  example  of  faith,  the 
conduct  of  Abraham  when  a  son  was  promised 
to  him  in  his  old  age.  Our  version  of  Script- 
ure represents  Abraham  as  irreverently  laugh- 


FAITH.  141 

ing,  and  openly  expressing  his  distrust  of  Al- 
mighty power. 

The  history  is,  however,  altogether  inco- 
herent, becanse  at  a  later  period  Abraham 
marries  another  wife,  Keturah,  by  whom, 
withont  Divine  intervention,  he  has  six  sons. 

In  that  age,  Jewish  writers,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  works  of  the  venerated  Philo, 
paid  little  attention  to  actual  history.  They 
regarded  the  patriarchs  as  types  or  emblems 
of  religions  feelings,  rather  than  as  real  his- 
torical fathers  of  the  Hebrew  race. 

The  history  of  Abraham  contains  striking 
instances  of  faith,  in  the  sense  of  implicit 
reliance  on  Divine  power ;  but  the  instance 
selected  by  St.  Paul  is  not  conducive  to  a 
clear  apprehension  of  his  meaning. 

The  Pauline  representations  of  faith  seem 
to  have  perplexed  other  Apostles,  and  the 
moral  consequences  of  his  doctrine  evidently 
alarmed  St.  James  so  seriously,  that  he  en- 
deavored in  his  own  Epistle  to  counteract  its 
effect. 

If  the  Apostles  themselves  differed  on  the 


142  FAITH. 

subject  of  faith,  and  found  in  St.  Paul's  writ- 
ings tilings  liard  to  be  understood,  it  is  not 
surprising  tliat  modern  authors  should  have 
likewise  failed  in  their  endeavors  to  explain 
this  Christian  virtue. 

.  A  passage  on  faith,  from  a  recent  work, 
entitled  "  Ecce  Homo, '  will  serve  to  show 
the  inconsistencies  into  which  able  men  may 
be  betrayed  when  they  try  to  accommodate 
religious  doctrine  to  modern  notions  : 

"  He  who,  when  goodness  is  impressively 
put  before  him,  exhibits  an  instinctive  loyalty 
to  it,  starts  forward  to  take  its  side,  trusts 
himself  to  it :  such  a  man  has  faith,  and  the 
root  of  the  matter  is  in  such  a  man.  He  may 
have  habits  of  vice,  but  the  loyal  and  faithful 
instinct  in  him  will  place  him  above  many 
that  practise  virtue.  He  may  be  rude  in 
thought  and  character,  but  he  will  uncon- 
sciously gravitate  toward  what  is  right.  Other 
virtues  can  scarcely  exist  without  a  fine  nat- 
ural organization  and  a  happy  training.  But 
the  most  neglected  and  ungifted  of  men  may 
make  a  beginning  with  faith.     Other  virtues 


FAITH.  143 

want  civilization,  a  certain  amount  of  knowl- 
edge, a  few  books ;  bnt  in  half-brutal  coun- 
tenances faith  will  light  up  a  glimmer  of 
nobleness.  The  savage,  who  can  do  nothing 
else,  can  wonder  and  worship,  and  enthusi- 
astically obey." 

This  description  of  faith  has  been  much 
admired ;  nevertheless,  the  author  and  his 
eulogist  appear  to  be  equally  at  fault. 

Two  varieties  of  faith  are  here  described  : 
the  first  is  moral  goodness,  which  has,  un- 
fortunately, in  uneducated  men,  seldom  been 
connected  with  faith.  The  second  variety  of 
faith,  exemplified  in  the  savage,  who  wonders 
and  worships,  contains  indeed  an  ingredient 
of  faith,  but  will  probably  lack  the  instinct 
of  goodness.  Such  faith  has  incited  men  to 
the  most  cruel  actions,  while  their  enthusi- 
astic obedience  renders  them  the  pliant  tools 
of  any  crafty  impostor. 

Surely  this  is  a  picture  of  credulity  dressed 
up  by  rhetoric  in  the  garb  of  faith,  and  dis- 
guised as  an  angel  of  light. 

The  Protestant   student  passes   on  from 


144:  FAITH. 

sucL.  eloquent  illusions  with  feelings  of  disap- 
pointment. 

The  word  faith,  in  the  Pauline  Epistles, 
comprises  three  separate  significations,  con- 
nected with  three  separate  faculties  in  the 
complex  nature  of  man  : 

First,  belief,  which  belongs  to  the  under- 
standing or  intellectual  nature. 

Second,  reliance  or  trust,  which  belongs  to 
the  moral  nature. 

Third,  union,  or  identification  with  Christ 
— this  belongs  to  the  spiritual  nature. 

It  is  manifest  that  this  last  perfection  of 
faith  would  absorb,  and  therefore  supersede, 
the  feebler  and  more  incomplete  forms  of 
faith.  Paul's  faith  was  an  intense  conscious- 
ness, in  which  the  whole  sentient  mind  of  the 
Apostle  was  impressed  with  the  conviction  of 
a  union  with  Christ. 

It  is  equally  evident  that  the  contrast 
between  faith  and  works  could  never  have 
occurred,  if  this  highest  signification  of  faith 
had  found  entrance  into  the  mind  of  St. 
James. 


FAITH.  145 

How  far  earnest  believers  liave  attained, 
or  believed  that  they  have  attained,  this  trans- 
cendental faith,  cannot  be  known.  It  is  al- 
most impossible  for  men,  whose  habits  of 
thouo-ht  and  of  feelins:  have  been  trained  bv 
modern  education,  and  tempered  by  inter- 
course with  existing  society,  to  comprehend 
the  mental  condition  which  prevailed  in 
former  centuries  imder  an  entirely  different 
state  of  civilization.  The  faith  of  a  devout 
Christian,  in  the  earliest  age  of  Christianity, 
subjugated  his  whole  nature,  and  was  identi- 
fied with  his  personal  existence.  He  lived  in 
an  ecstasy  of  hope,  "awaiting  the  speedy  ad- 
vent of  Christ,  by  whom  and  with  whom  he 
would  be  caught  up  into  the  clouds  of  heaven. 
In  James's  Epistle,  faith  seems  synony- 
mous with  belief.  Luther,  in  his  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  St.  Paul,  called  the  Epistle  of 
James  an  epistle  of  straw.  "We,  in  this  later 
age,  wathoiit  aspiring  to  the  elevated  doctrine 
of  St.  Paul,  should  be  satisfied  with  a  faith 
which  could  combine  the  conviction  of  the  in- 
tellect with  the  obedience  of  the  heart. 


liQ  FAITH. 

"Witliout  attempting  furtlier  to  explain 
that  spiritual  faith  whicli  is  a  Divine  grace, 
we  must  descend  to  the  intellectual  and  moral 
faith,  which  commands  only  a  precarious  al- 
legiance in  this  distracted  and  inquisitive 
world. 

Instead  of  the  absolute  supremacy  and 
unquestioned  dominion  which  faith  formerly 
exercised  over  the  human  mind,  her  jurisdic- 
tion is  now  limited  ;  she  resembles  a  constitu- 
tional sovereign,  and  must  be  careful  not 
to  strain  her  prerogative.  The  progress  of 
civilization  has  not  been  favorable  to  faith. 
All  other  Christian  virtues — justice,  benevo- 
lence, temj)erance,  patience,  self-denial — are 
strengthened  by  education,  and  the  advance- 
ment of  religion  is  here  in  harmony  with  the 
moral  improvement  of  society.  "W"hy,  then, 
is  one  Christian  virtue  an  exception  ?  "Why 
is  faith  weakened  and  impaired  by  the  cul- 
ture under  which  other  Christian  virtues 
thrive?  Is  faith  left  as  the  heritage  of  the 
nneducated  ? 

An  ignorant  generation  reposed  in  a  para- 


FAITH.  147 

dise  of  illusions,  while  its  more  learned  and 
thonglitful  progeny  is  excruciated  with  doubt. 

In  vain  preachers  now  exhort  to  faith,  and 
in  vain  they  denounce  infidelity ;  some  stronger 
law  overrules  mankind,  and  everywhere,  as 
experience  advances,  faith  recedes. 

The  first  element  of  faith  is  belief.  Is 
belief,  then,  in  itself  a  virtue  ?  Philosophers, 
historians,  scientific  teachers,  all  our  modern 
instructors  warn  us  against  facility  of  belief, 
which  they  declare  to  be  the  chief  obstruction 
to  knowledge,  the  bane  of  science,  and  the 
source  of  innumerable  calamities. 

Adam  Smith,  one  of  the  oracles  of  modern 
society,  declared :  "  The  man  scarce  lives  who 
is  not  more  credulous  than  he  ought  to  be ; 
the  natural  disposition  of  man  inclines  him  to 
believe,  experience  alone  teaches  incredulity, 
and  seldom  teaches  it  sufficiently." 

It  may  be  confidently  affirmed  that,  if  be- 
lief is  in  itself  a  virtue,  the  whole  course  of 
modern  education  is  a  grave  mistake.  A 
system  of  instruction  which  teaches  men  to 
examine  for  themselves,  to  be  cautious  in  ac- 


14:8  FAITH. 

cepting  the  opinions  of  otlier  persons,  to  dis- 
trust authority,  and  to  sift  evidence,  neces- 
sarily counteracts  that  disposition  to  believe 
which,  Adam  Smith  says,  is  natural  to  man- 
kind. 

There  are  many  indications  of  the  success 
in  this  direction  at  least,  which  modern  edu- 
cation has  attained.  The  Protestant  often- 
times takes  np  his  open  Bible,  he  wishes  to 
believe,  he  tries  to  believe,  he  thinks  at  all 
events  it  is  safest  to  believe,  he  feels  ashamed 
of  disbelief,  he  even  debases  his  moral  truth- 
fulness by  pretending  to  believe;  all  these 
efforts  avail  him  nothing,  and  he  is  at  last 
obliged  in  his  own  conscience  silently  to  con- 
fess— that  he  has  been  born  some  centuries 
too  late. 

"In  all  matters  where  faith  is  concerned," 
says  Locke,  "  the  first  thing  necessary  is  to 
-^x  the  boundary  between  faith  and  reason, 
for  I  find  that  all  sects,  where  reason  will  help 
them,  make  use  of  it  gladly,  but  when  it  fails, 
they  cry  out :  '  This  is  matter  of  faith,  and 
above  reason.' " 


FAITH.  149 

The  frontier  between  faith  find  reason  is 
still  undefined ;  but  it  is  now  generally  ad- 
mitted that  faith  borders  more  closely  on  the 
feelings  than  on  the  reason.  The  chief  reli- 
gious leaders  of  mankind  have  been  men  who 
readily  believed  whatever  vividly  impressed 
their  imagination.  Such  men  hold  that  they 
have  an  internal  witness,  and  can  therefore 
dispense  with  all  other  evidence.  This  con- 
viction can  only  be  communicated  to  other 
sympathizing  natures. 

In  proportion  to  the  success  of  modern 
education,  the  more  regular  and  disciplined 
exercise  of  the  human  faculties  w^ill  tend  to 
repress  these .  impulses,  and  to  subject  the 
feelings  to  the  understanding. 

The  innumerable  influences  of  our  existing 
civilization  operating  through  the  channels  of 
science,  of  literature,  and  of  social  intercourse 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  alter  our  precon- 
ceived notions,  and  Faith  is  gradually  losing 
her  empire  over  the  mind ;  w^hole  provinces 
have  been  wrested  from  her  dominion,  and 
her  authority  is  becoming  daily  less  secure. 


150  FAITH. 

There  is,  however,  one  unassailable  for- 
tress to  which  she  may  retire — faith  in  God. 
In  this  unapproachable  sanctuary  she  will 
reign  supreme. 

This  faith  does  not  depend  on  the  collation 
of  manuscripts,  or  on  the  reconciliation  of 
conflicting  texts.  The  believer  need  not  seek 
a  foundation  for  his  faith  in  a  Vatican  or 
Alexandrian  Codex.  He  need  not  contend  for 
the  grammatical  accuracy  of  a  disputed  pas- 
sage, or  strain  his  faculties  in  vain  attempts 
to  solve  a  metaphysical  problem. 

He  may  leave  to  theological  disputants  the 
questions  on  which  for  so  many  centuries  they 
have  exercised  their  ingenuity.  Here,  at  last, 
the  natural  and  supernatural  will  be  merged 
in  one  harmonious  universe,  under  one  Su- 
preme intelligence. 

In  affliction  and  in  sickness  the  thought- 
ful man  will  find  here  his  safest  support. 
Even  in  that  dread  hour  when  the  shadows 
of  death  are  gathering  around  him,  when  the 
visible  world  fades  from  his  sight,  and  the 
human  faculties  fail,  wdien  the  reason  is  en- 


FAITH.  151 

feebled,  and  the  memory  relaxes  its  grasp, 
Faith,  the  consoler,  still  remains,  soothing  the 
last  moments,  and  pointing  to  a  ray  of  light 
beyond  the  mystery  of  the  grave. 

Is  faith  in  God  the  faith  which  Jesns 
taught  ?  or  is  Christian  faith  more  complex  in 
its  manifold  requirements  ?  To  this  question 
various  are  the  replies,  but  every  man  must 
at  last  seek  the  solution  in  his  ovrn  mind  or 
his  own  heart.  Theology  cannot  aid  him — 
for,  while  faith  would  rely  on  Scripture, 
Scripture  itself  can  only  rely  on  faith. 


CHAPTEE  XXXII. 

ST.  Paul's  place  in  histoky. 

The  preceding  observations  on  the  Paul- 
ine Epistles  suffice  to  prove  that  the  Apostle's 
doctrines  were  for  the  most  part  of  human 
origin.  There  are  abundant  materials  for  a 
more  elaborate  inquiry,  but  deeper  research 
will  only  confirm  this  conclusion. 

St.  Paul  was  the  human  instrument  for 
effecting  a  great  change,  whereby  Christianity 
was  raised  from  a  local  sect  of  Judaism  to  be 
the  religion  of  the  civilized  world. 

A  careful  scrutiny  of  his  writings,  in  con- 
nection with  the  history  of  that  age,  compels 
the  student  to  admit  that  this  change  was 
accomplished  by  a  man  of  strong  feelings,  of 
limited  knowledge,  and  of  untiring  zeal. 
Paul  was  impressed  with  an  unhesitating  con- 


ST.   PAUL'S  PLACE   IN   HISTORY.  153 

viction  tliat  lie  was  spiritually  united  witli 
Jesus.  To  the  recipient  of  sncli  divine  grace 
the  internal  consciousness  may  be  a  sufficient 
proof;  but  the  reader  looks  in  vain  for  any 
evidence  to  justify  the  Apostle's  belief. 

Even  in  that  trance  or  enraptured  flight 
to  which  Paul  alludes,  he  cannot  throw  off 
the  prepossessions  of  the  Jewish  scribe,  but 
repeats  the  Eabbinical  tradition  of  the  third 
heaven. 

The  Pauline  Epistles  present  to  us  a  most 
interesting  phase  in  the  progress  of  religious 
thought,  they  assist  to  elucidate  an  important 
movement  in  the  history  of  Christianity ;  but, 
when  we  are  solemnly  asked  to  call  these 
epistles  the  word  of  God,  a  feeling  of  religions 
reverence  forces  us  to  withhold  our  assent. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE    GROWTH    OF    THEOLOGY. 

The  history  of  the  Church  from  St.  Paul 
to  St.  Augustine  comprises  the  growth  and 
development  of  Christian  theology.  This 
period  includes,  moreover,  the  rudimentary 
forms  of  almost  every  subsequent  religious 
opinion. 

Mankind  have  been  at  all  times  more 
attracted  by  the  mysteries  of  religion  than  by 
its  moral  precepts.  "Toutes  les  fins  de  la 
religion  se  trouvent  mieux  dans  les  objets  qu'on 
ne  comprend  point,  on  s'en  fait  une  idee  plus 
sublime,  et  meme  plus  consolante,  ils  inspi- 
rent  plus  d'admiration,  plus  de  respect,  plus 
de  crainte,  plus  de  confiance." 

The  justice  of  this  observation  is  striking- 
ly exemplified  in  the  annals  of  the  Church. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THEOLOGY.      155 

During  the  first  centuries  of  Cliristianity, 
speculative  dogmas,  and  verbal  subtleties, 
constituted  the  chief  matter  of  religious 
thought.  Tlie  Fathers  of  the  Church  seem  to 
have  emulated  the  old  philosophers  of  Greece 
in  their  lov6  of  disputation ;  and  no  sooner 
had  these  controversialists  folded  up  an  incom- 
prehensible dogma  in  unintelligible  words, 
than  the  ignorant  multitudes  of  Alexandria, 
of  Constantinople,  and  of  Milan,  adopted  it  as 
the  holy  symbol  of  Christianity.  Intense 
feelings  of  fanaticism  were  engendered,  and 
populous  cities  were  excited  to  tumult  and 
bloodshed  by  conflicts  upon  questions  which 
no  man  living  could  understand. 

The  translation  of  Greek  expressions  into 
the  more  rigid  terms  of  the  Latin  tongue 
imparted  a  new  shade  of  meaning,  or  perhaps 
of  mystery,  to  the  cherished  tenets.  The 
Eastern  and  the  Western  Empires  were  alike 
involved  in  these  fierce  controversies.  Christian 
charity  was  forgotten,  and  devout  men  felt 
justified  in  killing  one  another,  because  they 
could  not  agree  upon  the  nature  of  God. 


156     THE  GROWTH  OF   THEOLOGY. 

The  Englisli  translators  of  tlie  Bible  wisely 
admonisli  us  that  "  to  determine  of  such  things 
as  the  Spirit  of  God  hath  left  questionable  can 
be  no  less  than  presumption." 

To  this  serious  charge  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church  are  justly  liable.  Ancient  usage  and 
a  mechanical  habit  of  inattentive  repetition 
have  blunted  om-  feelings,  otherwise  we  should 
be  unable  to  endure  the  ecclesiastical  terms 
which  describe  the  mysteries  of  the  Godhead. 

"When  we  now  look  back  to  the  controver- 
sies of  those  early  times,  we  are  surprised  and 
shocked  at  the  profane  audacity  of  these 
churchmen.  If  any  theologians  ia  the  present 
century  had  constructed  creeds  subdividing 
the  Deity  into  persons,  and  then  deciding 
upon  their  relationship,  equality,  and  consub- 
stantiality,  the  presumption  and  impro]3ri- 
ety  of  such  vain  conceits  would  have  offended 
the  whole  Protestant  world. 

Yet,  these  early  Fathers  were  no  better 
qualified  than  the  clergy  of  the  present  day  to 
discuss  such  mysteries.  The  lapse  of  ages  has 
cast  a  halo  of  glory  around  the  ancient  names 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THEOLOGY.     I57 

of  men  whom  tlie  Catliolic  Cliiircli  lias  sanc- 
tified, and  we  forget  how  frequently  onr  or- 
thodox tenets  were  ratified  and  established  by 
the  intrigues  of  a  council,  or  by  the  decision 
of  an  emperor. 

The  Scripture  had  left  many  matters  ques- 
tionable, but  on  these  points  theologians 
delighted  to  dogmatize.  Rationalists,  said 
Bacon,  are  like  to  spiders,  they  spin  every 
thing  out  of  their  own  bowels.  In  this  sense 
Bacon  imputed  rationalism  to  the  Greek  phi- 
losophers, whose  theories  were  constructed 
out  of  their  own  imaginations. 

The  term  is  equally  applicable  to  the 
Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  who  spun  fanciful 
definitions  of  the  Divine  nature  out  of  their 
own  mystically  entangled  brains. 

Sabellius,  Arius,  Athanasius,  the  heretical 
and  the  orthodox  teachers,  were  all  alike 
rationalists.  Our  creeds,  formularies,  and  ar- 
ticles of  religion,  have  been  irremediably  taint- 
ed with  the  rationalism  of  the  first  Christian 
centuries. 

In  the  heat  of  controversy,  religious  men 


158      THE  GROWTH  OF  THEOLOGY. 

became  enthusiastic  partisans,  and  are  more 
eager  for  victory  than  for  truth.  Sectarian 
animosities  render  men  unscrupulous,  and 
tliej  persuade  themselves  that  thej  are  con- 
tending for  the  glory  of  God,  while  they  are 
only  striving  for  their  own  preeminence. 

On  this  point  the  three  witnesses  do  in- 
deed bear  record,  although  not  in  behalf  of 
the  cause  for  which  they  were  suborned. 
They  stand  there,  eternal  witnesses,  to  prove 
that  neither  the  prescriptive  sanctity  of  Holy 
Writ,  nor  the  solemn  words  of  the  beloved 
disciple,  nor  even  the  awful  mystery  of  the 
Godhead,  could  secure  the  text  of  Scripture 
against  the  interpolations  of  controversial 
zeal. 

The  writings  of  the  Fathers  have  lost  their 
influence  in  the  Protestant  world.  The  ef- 
forts made  within  the  memory  of  living  men 
to  awaken  an  interest  in  these  ancient  au- 
thors, produced  a  result  which  was  not  fore- 
seen. The  analogy  which  was  pointed  out 
between  the  ecclesiastical  and  evangelical 
miracles,  instead  of  establishing  the  ecclesias- 


THE  GROWTH  OF  THEOLOGY.      159 

tical,  impaired  the  credit  of  the  evangelical 
miracles.  So  also  the  style  of  reasoning 
adopted  by  the  ecclesiastical  writers  induced 
men  to  examine  in  the  same  light  the  Epistles 
of  St.  Paul. 


CKAPTEE  XXXIY. 

HEKESY. 

So  long  as  the  Church  had  unlimited 
power  over  the  minds  of  men,  any  opinion 
which  was  deemed  to  conflict  with  its  doc- 
trines was  denounced  as  heresy.  During 
more  than  a  thousand  years  the  charge  of 
heresy  was  the  most  terrible  accusation  which 
any  man  could  incur.  It  is  painful  to  reflect 
upon  the  sufferings  which  were  inflicted  for 
heresy — not  without  the  hearty  approval  of 
civilized  society. 

Educated  and  merciful  men  believed  that 
they  were  doing  what  was  agreeable  to  God, 
when  they  delivered  over  a  heretic  to  the  fire, 
and  thus  gave  him  a  foretaste  of  that  penalty 
which,  according  to  their  belief,,  awaited  him 
for  all  eternity. 

The  Eeformation  brought  no  immediate 


HERESY.  161 

relief  to  suffering  humanity.  The  Eeformers 
affixed  the  charge  of  heresy  to  any  opinion 
which  differed  from  their  own  interpretation 
of  Scripture.  Under  this  definition  of  heresy, 
the  fires  of  martyrdom  were  piled  np  afresh, 
and  men  who  had  denounced  the  assumption 
of  infallibility  by  the  Church  of  Eome,  now 
pronounced  judgments  as  if  they  were  them- 
selves infallible. 

The  severe  sentences  recorded  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  also  the  language  of  St.  Paul, 
were  held  to  sanction  these  cruel  practices. 
This  Apostle,  though  he  had  separated  him- 
self from  the  religion  of  his  fathers,  and  again 
from  tlie  Church  at  Jerusalem,  nevertheless 
denounced  as  accursed,  and  delivered  over  to 
Satan,  those  persons  who  taught  a  doctrine 
different  from  his  own. 

When  Locke  wrote  that  he  considered 
toleration  to  be  the  characteristic  mark  of  the 
true  Church,  he  must  have  had  on  his  mind 
some  ideal  Church.  On  this  principle,  he 
would  have  regarded  Gamaliel  as  a  better 
Christian  than  St.  Paul. 


1G2  HERESY. 

The  seed  of  lieresj  seems  to  be  indigenous 
in  the  human  mind,  and  whenever  the  reli- 
gious thoughts  and  feelings  of  men  are  deeply 
stirred,  heresy,  as  if  it  was  the  natural  prod- 
uct of  the  soil,  springs  up  on  every  side. 

To  heresy  we  are  indebted  for  a  large  por- 
tion of  our  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Even 
the  wild  fanaticism  and  coarse  plebeian  pro- 
geny— 

"  Of  petulant  capricious  sects, 
The  maggots  of  corrupted  texts  "— 

all  contributed  to  the  attainment  of  the  liberty 
which  modern  society  enjoys. 

Sovereigns  and  states  found  it  necessary 
to  connive  at  heresy,  connivance  led  to  tolera- 
tion, and  toleration  has  been  gradually  devel- 
oped into  full  liberty  of  thought. 

Thus,  heresy,  which  had  during  many 
centuries  been  execrated  and  persecuted  as  a 
sin  against  God,  and  a  crime  against  man, 
came  forth  at  last  from  the  dungeon  and  the 
flames  to  be  acknowledged  and  honored  as 
the  parent  of  intellectual  freedom. 

It  has  been  often  observed  that,  amid  the 


HERESY.  163 

complex  dispensations  under  wliicli  society 
lias  worked  ont  its  progress  to  a  higher  state 
of  civilization,  heresy  has  performed  an  impor- 
tant part.  We  pray  indeed  for  unity  of  faith, 
but  the  variety  of  our  beliefs  supplied  the  best 
security  for  our  mental  freedom,  and  perhaps 
also  for  our  religious  advancement. 

The  modes  of  error  are  innumerable,  but 
one  error  counteracts  or  neutralizes  another, 
while  doubt  tempers  the  mind  to  humility. 

"Where  infallibility  is  not  claimed,  here- 
sy cannot  be  reasonably  imputed.  Thus,  in 
Protestant  communities,  under  the  combined 
influence  of  milder  manners  and  of  modern 
thought,  the  vrord  heresy  has  become  obso- 
lete ;  it  has  been  altogether  banished  from 
civilized  society,  and  placed  in  the  index  of 
prohibited  expressions. 


CHAPTEE  XXXY. 

RECAPITULATION^. 

A  EEADEK  conversant  with  the  biblical  lit- 
erature and  theological  disquisitions  of  mod- 
ern times  will  perceive  that  the  preceding 
chapters  are  for  the  most  part  the  logical 
sequence  of  these  publications. 

In  a  merely  historical  aspect  these  numer- 
ous works  lead  to  the  following  general  con- 
clusion : 

Christianity,  from  the  time  when  it  was 
intrusted  to  the  human  mind,  imbibed  the 
imperfections  of  humanity. 

Among  the  local  Hebrew  race,  the  first 
Christians  appear  as  a  Jewish  sect,  clinging 
to  the  Temple,  and  adhering  tenaciously  to  the 
Mosaic  law. 

St.  Paul,  although  he  released  Christianity 


EECAPITULATIOX.  1^5 

from  the  bondage  of  tlie  law,  bound  it  np  and 
blended  it  with  the  traditions  of  the  Jewish 
schools.  In  his  mind  Christianity  became  a 
compound  of  inconsistent  doctrines,  which 
perplexed  subsequent  theologians. 

The  early  Fathers  of  the  Church,  educated 
in  the  later  literature  of  Greece,  and  perhaps 
tainted  with  Gnostic  notions,  constructed  a 
scheme  of  theogony,  which  constituted  the 
chief  part  of  their  Christian  theology.  Aid- 
ed by  the  secular  authority,  they  enforced 
this  scheme,  as  divine  truth,  upon  a  genera- 
tion which  had  been  nurtured  in  idolatrous 
usages. 

The  Church  of  Rome,  less  concerned  for 
dogma  than  for  power,  applied  Christianity 
to  the  purposes  of  empire,  and  gradually 
established  an  absolute  and  unprecedented 
dominion  over  the  civilized  world. 

When,  after  centuries  of  abject  servitude, 
the  Teutonic  race  revolted,  the  leaders  of  the 
Eeformation  fixed  their  attention  on  the  doc- 
trines which  had  been  the  main  instruments 
for  the  subjugation  of  mankind. 


IQQ  RECAPITULATIOX. 

The  two  doctrines,  Purgatory  and  tlie  Eeal 
Presence,  were  the  chief  supports  of  the  arro- 
gant authority  of  the  priesthood.  The  first 
was  at  once  discarded ;  the  second  could  not, 
for  many  reasons,  be  so  easily  rejected/ 
Yiewed  by  itself,  this  doctrine  would  prob- 
ably have  been  allowed  to  repose  with  other 
dogmas  in  the  Protestant  conscience.  It  was 
not  worth  while,  as  an  historian  observes,  to 
set  all  Europe  in  flames  for  the  sake  of  the 
difference  between  transubstantiation  and 
consubstantiation,  or  even  for  the  equally 
unintelligible  compromise  sanctioned  by  the 
English  Church. 

Human  reason  might  have  bowed  down 
before  this  mystery,  as  it  had  already  bowed 
before  other  Christian  mysteries,  and  accept- 
ed this  doo-ma  in  devout  humilitv. 

O  tJ 

"  Quod  non  sentis,  quod  non  vides, 
Animosa  firmat  fides." 

But  behind  the  dogma  was  the  priest, 
who  claimed  the  high  authority  associated 
with  such  supernatural  power.     This  doctrine 


RECAPITULATION.  107 

became,  therefore,  tlie  cardinal  point  of  tlie 
controversy ;  and,  while  the  Scriptures  were 
diligently  searched  for  weapons  with  which  to 
combat  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  aid  of  hu- 
man reason  was  also  invoked  in  support  of 
the  Protestant  cause. 

Human  Reason  was  a  powerful  but  a  dan- 
gerous ally ;  when  once  admitted  as  the  con- 
federate of  Protestantism,  he  arrogated  to 
himself  the  chief  command,  and  became  tur- 
bulent and  inquisitive.  Luther  lived  to  see 
the  difficulties  arising  around,  and  prognos- 
ticated future  perils.  In  vain  he  tried  to 
restrict  the  presumptuous  restlessness  of  Hu- 
man Reason  :  in  vain  he  exclaimed,  "  Orando 
melius  quam  dispntando  Deus  qugeritur  et 
invenitur."  The  movement  could  not  be 
checked,  innumerable  opinions  were  propa- 
gated, and  Protestants  were  soon  divided  into 
an  endless  variety  of  sects  and  schisms.  Ev- 
ery sect  seized  the  Bible,  and  declared  that 
they  alone  understood  it : 

"  Hie  liber  est,  in  quo  sua  quaarit  dogmata  quisque, 
Invenit  et  pariter  dogmata  quisque  sua." 


168  KECAPITULATION. 

While  Protestant  clmrclies  and  sects  have 
been  occupied  in  justifying  their  several 
denominational  differences,  the  persistent 
examination  of  the  Scriptures  has  opened  a 
question  of  such  magnitude  that  in  compari- 
son with  it  the  controversies  of  rival  sects 
appear  diminutive  or  worthless. 

If  the  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  are  discol- 
ored by  human  error,  whether  that  error  be 
legendary  tradition  or  Eastern  philosophy, 
the  whole  character  of  religious  thought  and 
of  religious  discussion  must  be  changed.  The 
weapons  of  controversy  break  in  our  hands  ; 
the  basis  of  dogmatic  theology  crumbles  to 
pieces  under  our  feet.  We  have  been  wran- 
gling over  the  transient  notions  of  men,  while 
we  thought  that  we  were  vindicating  our  sev- 
eral interpretations  of  divine  truth. 

"  Opinionum  commenta  delet  dies ;  "  and 
Time  is  now  rapidly  performing  his  appointed 
task. 


CHAPTEK  XXXVI. 

COLORLESS     CHEISTIANIT  Y. 

"  Quicquid  recipitur,  recipiturad  modum  recipientis." 

The  old  prescriptive  basis  of  the  Protes- 
tant faith,  namely,  the  recognition  of  the  New 
Testament  as  the  undoubted  word  of  God,  has 
been  gradually  weakened,  and  is  now  irrepar- 
ably impaired. 

This  has  been  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
study  of  Scripture.  The  orthodox  phrase  is 
retained,  but  its  signification  is  no  longer  the 
same ;  conscientious  men  have  been  so  deeply 
impressed  with  this  difficulty,  that  they  deemed 
it  right  to  explain  the  phrase  as  signifying 
that  the  Scripture  contained  the  Word  of  God, 
instead  of  being  actually  the  Word  of  God. 
The  only  straightforward  and  defensible  course 
consists  in  admitting  that  from  the  moment 


170  COLORLESS   CHRISTIANITY. 

when  Christianity  entered  into  the  mind  of 
man,  it  acquired  the  taint  of  humanity.  Our 
Church  formally  acknowledges  that  Councils 
have  erred,  and  that  Churches  have  erred ;  it 
must  be  also  acknowledged  that  Evangelists 
have  erred,  and  that  Apostles  have  erred. 

The  position  of  the  Christian  Scriptures  is 
jiecessarily  changed  by  this  admission.  Chris- 
tianity, however,  made  rapid  and  extensive 
conquests  before  it  possessed  any  canonical 
Scriptures,  and  before  many  of  its  dogmas  had 
been  constructed.  Protestants  may  confident- 
ly rely  on  its  spiritual  life,  although  in  the 
modern  world  skepticism  has  become,  as  it 
were,  an  indispensable  ingredient  of  religious 
faith. 

The  Christian  Scriptures  picture  in  vivid 
colors  the  form  which  Christianity  assumed  at 
an  early  period  in  the  minds  of  Evangelists 
and  of  Apostles ;  these  Scriptures  repeat,  more- 
over, the  broken  echo  of  the  holiest  truths,  but 
they  present  also  in  almost  every  page  an  im- 
press of  contemporary  errors,  and  sometimes 
of  mischievous  superstitions. 


COLORLESS  CHRISTIANITY.  171 

Such  notions,  it  will  be  said,  lead  to  a 
vague,  indefinite,  colorless  Cliristianitj,  and 
leave  tlie  Protestant  without  a  creed. 

All  creeds  are  of  human  origin,  and  the 
endeavor  to  construct  a  precise  creed  on  mat- 
ters which  are  beyond  the  scope  of  the  hnman 
intellect  has  been  the  stumbling-block  of 
Christians  from  the  first  century  to  the  pres- 
ent day. 

In  the  earliest  age  devout  men  conscien- 
tiously differed  as  to  the  mystery  which  seemed 
to  them  to  be  the  elementary  principle  of 
Christian  belief;  and  Athanasius  himself  con- 
fessed that,  the  more  he  meditated  upon  it,  the 
less  he  understood  it. 

The  disproportion  between  the  human  and 
the  Divine  nature  did  not  in  ancient  times 
appear  so  immeasurable  as  it  now  appears  to 
the  educated  Protestant. 

History,  philosophy,  and  poetry,  in  that 
age,  tended  to  promote  a  belief  in  the  union  of 
the  Divine  with  the  human  nature,  or  at  least 
in  the  approach  of  the  human  to  the  Divine 
mind. 


172  COLORLESS  CHRISTIANITY. 

If  we  turn  to  the  modern  world,  we  per- 
ceive an  entirely  different  tone  of  thought  and 
feeling  ;  the  horizon  is  enlarged,  but  the  view 
is  less  distinct.  This  is  the  inevitable  conse- 
quence of  increased  knowledge ;  and  definite 
creeds  embodied  in  artificial  phrases  will  no 
longer  be  accepted  as  positive  truth. 

Men  harassed  by  these  difficulties  have  re- 
course to  various  modes  of  allaying  insidious 
doubts.  Some  take  refuge  in  mysticism,  some 
seek  a  remedy  in  philosophy,  and  some  again 
in  physical  science. 


CHAPTER  XXXYII. 

MODERN   EDUCATION. 

Doubts  wliicli  have  arisen  from  tlie  exami- 
nation of  Scripture  are  increased  and  appear 
to  be  justified  by  the  modern  course  of  study 
in  history,  science,  and  philosophy. 

The  study  of  physical  science  elevates  our 
notion  of  the  Deity,  and  renders  us  conscious 
of  an  invisible  intelligence  and  power  far  sur- 
passing the  sublimest  visions  which  the  He- 
brew prophets  ever  beheld.  This  study,  how- 
ever, qualifies  the  ancient  notions  of  man's 
position  in  the  universe. 

In  past  ages  the  earth  was  thought  to  be 
the  centre  of  the  celestial  system,  and  man 
the  principal  being  for  whose  benefit  the 
heavenly  bodies  were  illumined.  When  sci- 
ence had  reduced  the  earth  to  a  comparatively 


174  MODERX  EDUCATIOX. 

insignificant  unit  amid  the  countless  spheres 
of  creation,  man  was  simultaneously  lowered 
in  his  position,  and  knowledge  for  the  second 
time  brought  about  his  fall. 

Our  modern  scientific  teachers  appear  to 
perceive  nothing  but  an  indissoluble  chain  of 
cause  and  effect,  or  at  least  of  unvarying 
sequence,  operating  with  a  regularity  which 
requires  no  adjustment,  and  admits  of  no  in- 
tervention. "Where  nothing  has  to  be  further 
provided,  Providence  is  an  erroneous  term,  or 
must  receive  another  meaning  from  its  usual 
acceptation  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  unsci- 
entific world. 

An  exclusive  attention  to  physical  science 
may  perhaps  disqualify  the  mind  for  the  more 
enlarged  contemplation  which  a  nobler  philos- 
ophy requires. 

On  this  subject  there  are  some  remarks  by 
Y.  Cousin  deserving  of  attention  : 

"  Les  rapports  qui  unissent  la  creation  et 
le  createur  composent  un  probleme  obscur  et 
delicat,  dont  les  deux  solutions  extremes  sont 
egalement  fausses  et  perilleuses  ;  ici  un  Dieu 


MODERN  EDUCATION.  175 

tellement  passe  dans  le  monde,  qu'il  a  Tair  d'y 
ctreabsorbe;  laimDieu  tellement  separe  du 
monde,  que  le  monde  a  I'air  de  marcher  sans 
lui ;  des  deux  cotes,  egal  exces,  ^gal  danger, 
egale  erreur." 

It  becomes  obvious  that  our  scientific 
teachers  have  led  us  to  speculate  on  questions 
which  are  unsusceptible  of  solution. 

A  similar  observation  may  justly  be  ap- 
plied to  the  doctrines  of  many  modern  phi- 
losophers. In  the  present  imperfect  state  of 
human  knowledge,  the  endeavor  to  construct 
a  positive  philosophy  is  obviously  premature. 
A  genuine  philosophy  of  the  mind  may  event- 
ually disclose  a  system  as  sublime  and  enno- 
bling as  the  discoveries  revealed  by  science 
in  the  visible  universe. 

For  these  results,  however,  we  must  wait, 
remembering  that  Truth  is  the  daughter  of 
Time,  and  not  of  Authority.  The  theories  of 
scientific  men,  and  the  reveries  of  philoso- 
phers, are  valuable  as  incitements  to  further 
investigation,  but  do  not  satisfy  the  require- 
ments of  civilized  society,  which  is  earnestly 


176  MODERN  EDUCATIOX. 

desirous  of  moral,  of  intellectual,  and  of  re- 
ligious advancement. 

These  are  tlie  inestimable  benefits  wliich 
men  expect  from  Christianity,  and,  since  re- 
ligion may  be  judged  by  its  fruits,  that  form 
of  Christianity  which  develops  the  highest 
qualities  of  human  nature,  and  furthers  the 
continued  improvement  of  society,  may  be 
safely  accepted  as  the  nearest  approach  to 
religious  truth. 


CHAPTER    XXXYIII. 

TWO    OPrOSITE   DEVELOPMENTS    OF    CHPJSTIANITY. 

The  history  of  the  Romish  Church  ex- 
hibits a  certain  progress,  or  succession  of 
developments,  which  have  been  by  some 
writers  carefully  traced  back  through  many 
centuries. 

It  may  be  doubted,  hovv- ever,  whether  the 
faith  of  the  Catholic  community  has  increased 
in  proportion  to  tlie  additional  dogmas  im- 
posed on  the  Catholic  conscience.  The  Prot- 
estant religion  is  developing  itself  in '  an 
opposite  direction.  The  tendency  of  the 
Protestant  mind  is  to  release  itself  from 
dogmas ;  and,  although  in  all  matters  of  re- 
ligion men  move  with  justifiable  timidity, 
yet  the  evidences  of  such  movemeiit  are  un- 
deniable. 


178  TWO   OPPOSITE   DEVELOPMENTS. 

Is  tlie  Established  Chiircli  then  to  remain 
petrified  in  the  system  accepted  at  the  Eef- 
ormation  ?  "What  ground  is  there  for  assum- 
ing that  the  Church  attained  the  perfection 
of  doctrinal  truth  three  hundred  years  ago  ? 
A  certain  pattern  of  doctrine  was  then  ap- 
proved, signed,  and  sealed,  officially  regis- 
tered, and  stamped  with  the  royal  arms. 
From  this  pattern  no  deviation  is  allowed. 
The  statesmen  of  that  day  had,  however, 
no  special  gift  qualifying  them  to  fix  for 
all  future  time  the  religion  of  the  English 
Church. 

The  Protestant  Church  is  not  bound  by  a 
"  non  possumus."  Change  is  the  indispen- 
sable condition  of  all  earthly  life,  and  a  re- 
liction which  blends  and  identifies  itself  with 
the  inmost  thoughts  and  feelings  of  man 
cannot  be  exempt  from  human  mutability. 
A  restlessness  is  visible  in  the  clergy  as  well 
as  in  the  laity ;  and  if  the  clergy  had  not 
been  restricted  from  guiding  us,  they  might 
still  have  remained  the  enlightened  leaders 
of  educated  societv. 


CHAPTEE  XXXIX. 

A    GLIMPSE     OF    BETTER    DAYS. 

"  Auspiciura  melioris  sevi." 

The  foregoing  pages  contain  an  epitome 
of  the  causes  wliich  have  produced  the  deep 
biblical  skepticism  of  the  present  day,  and  are 
thought  to  justify  its  existence.  Those  per- 
sons who  are  eager  to  refute  this  skepticism 
have  here  an  ample  field  for  their  exertions. 

The  questions  at  issue  are,  however,  of  a 
nature  which  controversial  warfare  cannot  de- 
cide. They  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of 
another  generation. 

It  is  impossible  to  predict  what  will  be 
the  Protestantism  of  the  future  ;  but  there  are 
many  indications  that  none  of  the  existing  de- 
nominations will  resist  the  mental  wear  and 
tear  of  the  next  fifty  yeai^. 


180  ^   GLIMPSE   OF  BETTER   DAYS. 

A  large  portion  of  tlie  people  will,  it  may 
be  hoped,  be  better  educated.  Their  opinions 
will  then  apx)roximate  to  the  views  now  prev- 
alent among  the  cultivated  classes  of  societ}^ 
This  progress  will  not  be  favorable  to  secta- 
rian distinctions. 

The  universities  are  now  open  to  all  reli- 
gious persuasions,  and  will  soon  offer  their 
emoluments  to  the  ablest  men  in  every  class 
of  life.  The  Churchman  and  the  Non-con- 
formist will  be  trained  alike  in  history,  phi- 
losophy, and  kindred  studies. 

A  new  school  of  thought  will  gradually 
predominate,  and  the  wall  of  partition  be- 
tween Churchman  and  ISTon-conformist  will 
be  broken  down. 

The  community  will  be  influenced  by  the 
current  of  thousrht  flowino;  from  the  universi- 
ties ;  religious  teachers  of  more  enlarged  views 
will  then  be  required. 

We  may  hope  also  that,  by  the  continued 
progress  of  learning  and  of  liberty,  Chris- 
tianity, as  Butler  long  ago  predicted,  will  be 
better  understood.     The  ministers  of  religion 


A    GLIMPSE   OF   BETTER   DAYS.  181 

will  again  become  the  teachers  of  the  people, 
and  the  open  Bible  will  irresistibly  lead  to  the 
open  church. 

Religious  and  secular  instruction  will  then 
be  in  unison,  the  distinctions  of  Protestant 
sects  will  be  obliterated  and  forgotten,  and 
the  Church  would,  without  any  violent  con- 
vulsion, become  the  Church  of  the  whole  Prot- 
estant people. 

Such  a  course  of  enlightened  policy  would 
be  far  preferable  to  the  continued  mainte- 
nance of  the  existing  denominations,  which 
are  becoming  every  day  less  and  less  suited 
to  satisfy  the  moral  and  intellectual  demands 
arising  from  expanded  knowledge,  and  from 
the  freer  discussions  of  religious  thought. 

These  speculations,  however,  lead  us  far 
away  from  the  world  in  which  we  live.  For 
the  present  disputes  must  still  divide  and 
irritate  the  Protestant  community.  Vigor- 
ous but  narrow-minded  men  usually  exercise 
most  influence  over  the  least  educated  classes 
of  society ;  and  public  opinion  can  only  be 
brouglit  by  slow  degrees  to  entertain  a  view 


182  A   GLIMPSE   OF  BETTER   DAYS. 

of  Christianity  unencumbered  with  the  pre- 
scriptive phrases  belonging  to  another  state 
of  civilization.  The  leaven  is  still  fermenting 
in  the  human  mind,  and  education  must  ac- 
celerate the  process ; 

"  Sumunt  boni,  sumunt  mali, 
Sorte  tamen  insequali." 


THE    END. 


